A Dream Within a Dream
"A Dream Within a Dream" is a poem written by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1849. The poem is 24 lines, divided into two stanzas.
Analysis
The poem dramatizes a confusion in watching the important things in life slip away.[1] Realizing he cannot hold on to even one grain of sand leads to his final question that all things are a dream.[2]
It is opined that the "golden sand" referenced in the 15th line signifies that which is to be found in an hourglass, consequently time itself.[3] Another interpretation holds that the expression evokes an image derived from the 1848 finding of gold in California,[1] though this is highly unlikely considering the presence of the four almost identical lines describing the sand in another poem, titled "To ——," and regarded as a blueprint to "A Dream Within a Dream," preceding its publication by two decades.[3]
Publication history
The poem was first published in the March 31, 1849, edition of a Boston-based periodical called The Flag of Our Union.[2] The same publication had only two weeks before first published Poe's short story "Hop-Frog." The next month, owner Frederick Gleason announced it could no longer pay for whatever articles and poems it published.
Adaptations
- Picnic at Hanging Rock, a story about a group of girls disappearing while on a field trip to a rock formation in the early 20th century, begins with a voice over that states "What we see and what we seem is but a dream. A dream within a dream".
- The Alan Parsons Project's album Tales of Mystery and Imagination (Alan Parsons Project album) opens with an instrumental homage to the poem. Its 1987 re-release included a narration by Orson Welles.
- The Propaganda album A Secret Wish, released in 1985, opens with the track "Dream Within A Dream". The poem is recited in spoken-word form by vocalist Susanne Freytag.
- Biological Radio, the 1997 Dreadzone album, features the track "Dream Within A Dream" which quotes lines from the poem.
- The Yardbirds' recorded a musical adaptation for their 2003 album Birdland.
- Elysian Fields recorded a musical adaptation of the song.
- Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows adapted the poem for their album Poetica - All Beauty Sleeps.
References
- 1 2 Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. New York: Harper Perennial, 1991. p. 402 ISBN 0-06-092331-8
- 1 2 Sova, Dawn B. Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z. New York: Checkmark Books, 2001: 73. ISBN 0-8160-4161-X
- 1 2 Poe, E. A. (1969). Poems Collected in 1829. In T. O. Mabbott (Ed.), Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe, Volume I: Poems (pp. 130). Massachusetts: Belknap Press.
External links
- A Dream Within A Dream, from about.com.
- Video of A Dream Within a Dream
