A Dream Within A Dream By Edgar Allan Poe Take this kiss upon the brow!

And, in parting from you now, Thus much let me avowYou are not wrong, who deem That my days have been a dream; Yet if hope has flown away In a night, or in a day, In a vision, or in none, Is it therefore the less gone? All that we see or seem Is but a dream within a dream. I stand amid the roar Of a surf-tormented shore, And I hold within my hand Grains of the golden sandHow few! yet how they creep Through my fingers to the deep, While I weep- while I weep! O God! can I not grasp Them with a tighter clasp? O God! can I not save One from the pitiless wave? Is all that we see or seem But a dream within a dream?

Dream has 2 meanings: (1) aspiration, something hoped for; (2) illusion of something as in sleep or a daydream. Thus Dream (1) within a Dream (2) could mean a hope within an illusion. Dream within a dream could also be an illustration. In dreams we sometimes realize we are dreaming, but it is such a good dream that we dont want to wake up and have it all vanish; we dont want to lose it even though we become aware that it is not real. Also sometimes we dream that we are awake and do not realize that we are still only dreaming, until we really do wake up.

This poem might be about a romantic relationship that has just ended (in parting from you now). Since Poe is a man, the me and I in the poem is probably a man, a dramatized character, who has just been told by his girlfriend that it is over. She must have just told him something like she never really loved him or loved him but not in a lasting way like he thought she did (You are not wrong, who deem that my days have been a dream). Dreams are short-lived, and they die when we wake up. Hope, like a dream, can die when we realize that what we thought was real, or what we hoped for, was just an illusion. This poem is sort of sequential, laying out the mans experience of two successive emotions. The first paragraph is his immediate realization of what just happened, and the tone is like he is in numb shock. There are lots of short phrases (In a night, or in a day, in a vision, or in none) and the paragraph ends with a simple statement (All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.) The second paragraph sounds like he is overwhelmed by pain and sadness as the realization that the relationship is over sinks in (I stand amid the roar of a surf-tormented shore). It has lots of exclamations (How few! while I weep! O God! O God!) and questions (can I not grasp them with a tighter clasp? can I not save one from the pitiless wave?). The paragraph ends with a question (Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream?) as if he cries out the question in desperation over the roar of the ocean waves.

The main message is All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream because it is the title of the poem, it is repeated twice, and the poem ends with it. All that we see is referring to what the narrator sees what someone else (she) is to him. All that we seem is referring to what the narrator is to her. Both he finds are but (only) a dream within a dream. Both what the narrator thought she was and what he thought he seemed to her, he discovers, was not real or if it was real at the time, it is no longer real. The poem uses the imagery of hold within my hand grains of the golden sand how they creep through my fingers to the deep,. Memories are sometimes considered golden. This part might be about the narrators attempt to cling to memories of the relationship and comfort himself still trying to grasp the happy feelings that he had, or trying to hold on to false hope that the relationship is not over, only to find that the memories, feelings, and hope just slip away from him.