A Dream by Edgar Allan Poe
In visions of the dark night
I have dreamed of joy departed;
But a waking dream of life and light
Hath left me broken- hearted.
Ah! What is not a dream by day
To him whose eyes are cast
On things around him, with a ray
Turning back upon the past?
That holy dream, that holy dream,
While all the world were chiding,
Hath cheered me as a lovely beam
A lonely spirit guiding.
What though that light, thro’ storm and night,
So trembled from afar-
What could there be more purely bright
In Truth’s day- star?
Poe wrote this piece in his youth, and he experienced a lot of turmoil in his young life, due to the death of his mother from tuberculosis. In this poem Poe starts by describing a dream that appears to be a nightmare, which breaks his heart. In the second stanza; however he begins to show that his nightmare follows him through the day as well as through the night. In the third stanza Poe explains that a lonely spirit makes him happier and helps him though his nightmare, because his life became a bad dream after the death of his mother, the lonely spirit could be the mother he lost. The final stanza describes Poe waking up from his bad dream, and an underlying meaning to this stanza could be that the thought of his mother could be his sun, or his truth’s day star that brings him away from the pain of his hard life.
I think it is amazing how someone can tell a story through a poem. Somebody who can do that has to have a lot of talent
ReplyDeleteEdgar Allen Poe is such a good poet. I kind of like the darkness of his poems because they come from his past and he means what his poems say. He is not trying to fake this tone like some other poets try and do.
ReplyDeleteI love Edgar Allen Poe! He's amazing at what he does, mostly because he takes stuff that he's lived through and puts it on paper. I like how you say that the light that's in his life is his mother. When someone loses their parent at such a young age, they really are lonely and that light made his dream a reality.
ReplyDeleteI am usually not a fan of dark poems, but there is something about Poe that is interesting and appealing.
ReplyDeleteI'm very impressed that Poe wrote this when he was still a child. It seems that poetry was a way to express himself when he was younger, and that talent grew into a great gift into his adulthood.
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy that he wrote this as a youth and it is still a well composed poem. It tells a story that a lot of people can relate to.
ReplyDeleteThis man is an intelligent poet. The style that he uses within his poetry are remarkable. Poe shows us that anyone can write poetry at any age.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Mack, the ability to tell a story through poem is absolutely austounding to me. This poem is pretty deep and dark but, it conveys a message of Poe's dark up-bringing.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting poem. I didn't understand it at all until I read your analysis. Once I undestood what he was saying, I really liked this poem.
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