A Dream Within A Dream

In A Nutshell
These days Austin Powers is the most famous International Man of Mystery, but unfortunately he wasn't around in the
19th century. Back then the biggest international man of mystery was Edgar Allan Poe. His spontaneously imploding
houses, black cats that just won't die, and guys burying each other alive have baffled and unnerved even the most
stalwart of readers for almost two centuries.
While "A Dream Within a Dream" doesn't feature anything as morbid as the usual Poe fare, we'd be lying if we said
it wasn't just as mysterious. "All that we see or seem / Is but a dream within a dream," the speaker notes at the end of
the first stanza, telling us that all of life is one big illusiona dream within a dream. Reality doesn't really exist, or we
have no way of knowing what is real and what is not. Yeah, we're befuddled, too, Shmoopers.
Now, even though Edgar Allan Poe was definitely one of the most original guys of all time, he may have ripped off
this bit about life being a dream within a dream. Philosophers have been puzzling over this pickle for at least two
thousand years. In fact, it's often referred to as the dream argument or dream hypothesis.
The dream hypothesis was first discussed in Western literature by Plato (inTheaetetus) and Aristotle (in Metaphysics)
in Ancient Greece about a zillion years ago. Then our man Rene Descartes made it one of the central ideas in
his Meditations on First Philosophy (1641). Generally speaking, the dream hypothesis is associated with a little thing
called philosophical skepticism. Skepticism, as you may have guessed, is all about being skeptical about our ability to
know things for certain. So was Poe a skeptic? Well, we can't say for sure, but we do know that he wondered about
these ideas. And hey, haven't we all?
So while 1849's "A Dream Within a Dream" does have a bit of a philosophical bent, it's also totally relatable, and the
rhymes don't hurt either. Think of it as a digestible version of the dream hypothesis, with a distinctly Poe-ish air of
mystery about it.
WHY SHOULD I CARE?

Admit it. When you think no one's around, you've been known to get a little emo and ponder the meaning of life.
Where are we going? What's the point? Is any of it even real?
Rest assured, dear Shmoopers: you're not alone. In fact, you're in the very good company of one Mr. Edgar Allan
Poe, who's in full existential crisis mode in "A Dream Within a Dream." All it takes is one little goodbye kiss to send
this guy reeling into a terrifying spiral of contemplating the very nature of reality. But hey, Edgar, we've been there.
Whether it's the sound of the rain on your windowpane, the death of a loved one, or even just the life-altering
deliciousness of a love handle-forming pint of cookies and cream, sometimes we can't help but wonder at the
miracle/disaster that is reality. But wait a second. What if it's not a miracle at all? What if reality isn't even real? What
if we're actually in The Matrix?
A scary thought, but it's one you're bound to have a time or two. So you can stave off the existential angst by diving
right into the heart of the problem with good ol' EAP. And don't worry; he'll hold your hand all the way down.
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A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM:

TEXT OF THE POEM
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A Dream Within a Dream

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow
You 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 sand
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weepwhile 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?
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A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM

SUMMARY
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The poem opens with the speaker peaceing out on his ladylove. He kisses her and tells her she is not wrong in
saying that all his days have been a dream. In fact, before he splits, he outright says that all he sees and seems is
but a dream within a dream.
In the next stanza, the speaker's standing on a loud beach, watching golden grains of sand slip through his fingers. In
a classic emo moment, he cries out to God, wishing he could hold on to the sand with a tighter grip (why? Who
knows). The poem concludes with the speaker unsure about whether or not everything he sees and seems is just a
dream within a dream. We know buddy, beach trips are stressful.
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STANZA 1 SUMMARY
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Get out the microscope, because were going through

this poem line-by-line.
Line 1
The speaker begins the poem by telling somebody to take a kiss upon the brow. Gee, aren't we demanding?
This is Poe, who was all about the romance, so we'll go ahead and guess this is a dude offering a girl a kiss.
It sounds like the speaker is saying goodbye to this girl, but we don't know where is going, or why he is
leaving yet.
Whatever the case, it's urgent. He's gotta go. That's what that exclamation point's all about.
Lines 2-5
Thus much let me avowYou are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Well it turns out that our hunch was correctthe speaker is "parting," i.e. leaving, this person.
And, "in parting," the speaker wishes to "avow" or express something to his special friend.
What is it that he wants to tell her? Apparently, that she's not wrong when she says that his days have all
been a dream.
Hmm, that's strange. Either he really has been dreaming (in which case, we're in for a trippy poem), or she's
talking about how their time together has been dreamlike in its awesomeness.
Whatever the case, it's certainly puzzling. It sounds like the speaker is questioning whether or not everything
that has happened to him is real, or whether it's just some fantasy.
And whatever the case, it sounds like waking up from that dream is a bit of a bummer. Why else is he
peaceing out on his main squeeze?
Note too that there are some rhymes happening in here. Lines 1-3, and lines 4-5 rhyme with each other. We
could chart the rhyme scheme like this: AAABB.
If there's a rhyme scheme, it's always a safe bet to be on the lookout for meter, too. But in this poem, it's a
bit tricky to suss out just what meter it's written in, so for now we'll just say that it's definitelyiambic (hear that
daDUM rhythm?). Head on over to "Form and Meter" for the real skinny.
And, FYI, we still have no clue where the speaker is going. Is he about to wake up from a real dream? Is he
waking up from his fantasy? Is he literally going somewhere?
Lines 6-9
Is it therefore the less gone?
Apparently the speaker isn't ready to hit the road just yet because he has a few more cryptic remarks for his
lady friend.
He ponders whether hope is any "less gone" if it flies away in a night, or in a day, in a vision, or not in a
vision. That sounds like a lot of mumbo-jumbo to us, so let's unpack it.
First of all, the speaker is asking if it makes any difference when hope leaves. It's like asking, "Does it matter
if my girlfriend dumps me in the day, or at night, if she's still gone in the end?"
So the speaker is asking, and implying, that no matter when hope flies away (in the course of a night, or a
day, etc.) it's still gone, and that's the pits.
But notice, he doesn't just include night or day. He also says that if hope ditches him "in a vision, or in none,"
it doesn't really matter. So even if it all was a dream, the point is, his hope's gone no matter what.
Now, as for what particular hope, if any, the speaker is talking about, that's not so clear. If we keep reading,
maybe we can piece it all together.
Still, if we had to guess we'd say he's talking about his hope that life isn't a dream. Realizing that everything
you've experienced is all just some fantasy could be pretty painful.
The speaker's departure from the woman seems to be a metaphorfor this painful realization. He's leaving
the woman, and thus also leaving behind a fantasy or dream.
Form-wise, it looks like we're still working with rhyming coupletshere, so keep an eye out for that pattern to
continue for the rest of the poem.
Lines 10-11
Is but a dream within a dream.
Earlier the speaker had told the woman that she was spot on when she said that his life was one big dream.
Now he's out and out agreeing with her by saying the very same thing himself.
Only it's not just his life he's going on aboutthis time it applies to all of us.
And it's not just a dream, but a dream within a dream, like in that movie Inception.
Dreams are pretty confusing in themselves, but dreams within dreams? That's definitely a head scratcher. If
everything is a dream within a dream, then everything is super, duper, extra unreal, right?
Let's think of it like this: there's reality, then there's dreams, then there's dreams within dreams. Regular
dreams are one degree removed from reality, so dreams within dreams are two degrees removed from
reality.
The implications of this conundrum are profound. If everything is a dream within a dream, that means that if
we could somehow get out of the "dream," then we would still be inside a dream. Pretty terrifying, if you ask
Shmoop.
It's a very strange way of saying that everything will always be dreamy or fantastical or imaginary. The
speaker is claiming that there is no such thing as reality and that we are not who we actually are.
So wait a minute, where does this fantasy come from? Do our minds produce it? Is it like the Matrix where
some evil machines are producing this fake reality for us, and we're all a bunch of dupes?
Or is this just some depressing and clever way to say that we can never experience the world around us
without using the preconceptions, illusions, and fantasies of our own minds?
We'll go with this last one, just to be safe, but any way you slice it, Mr. Poe has clearly outdone himself here.
International. Man. Of. Mystery.
And you thought Inception was confusing.
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STANZA 2 SUMMARY
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Get out the microscope, because were going through

this poem line-by-line.
Lines 12-15
Grains of the golden sand
New stanza, new setting.

Now the speaker is standing near the "roar" of a "surf-tormented shore" and holding grains of golden sand in
his hand.
"Surf-tormented" means that the shore is being bothered, harassed, or pounded by the surf of the ocean.
And that roar? Just imagine the sound of some really loud waves. Or a lion if you prefer.
Where is this ocean anyway? How did we get from the lady and that dream within a dream stuff to the
shore?
Well, maybe since everything is just a big dream, our speaker has been magically transported to a seashore
somewhere. There are no rules in dreams, right?
At the same time, it almost seems like the speaker is trying to convince himself that everything is real and
not just an illusion. Notice, for example, all the details he gives.
There's a shore, it's tormented by some rough waves, which "roar," and it's made up of golden sand that the
speaker actually grasps.
Okay, surf-tormented shore, speaker holding sand, now what?
Lines 16-18
While I weepwhile I weep!
How few? How few of what? Grains of sand? Yep, the speaker can only hold onto a few grains at a time.
And yet even those few somehow manage to creep through the speaker's fingers down to the deep, or the
ocean. He just can't hold on to them.
Poe's tossing some figurative language our way by referring to the ocean metaphorically as "the deep," and
by telling us that grains of sand creepthat's personification.
Meanwhile, the speaker is weeping. Just to make sure we get the message, he tells us twice that he is
weeping while the sand slips through his fingers.
If holding onto the sand is his way of connecting to realityto something physicalthen it makes sense that
he's feeling bummed. His grip on reality, like the sand, is slipping away. That causes him a lot of frustration
(note the two exclamation points and all that weeping).
Lines 19-22
One from the pitiless wave?
As if we didn't already know, the speaker drives home the point about his exasperation (two more
exclamation points).
He appeals to God, and asks if he can't hold on to them (the grains of sand) with a "tighter clasp" and if he
can't save one from the "pitiless wave."
The negative questions here imply negative answers. The answers to the speaker's "can I not" are clearly
meant to be "no, you can't."
The speaker so desperately wants to "save" the sands and hold them "tighter" because he wants to prove
that he can do it, to prove that everything is real and not just a fleeting illusion.
The "pitiless wave" harkens back to that roaring, tormenting surf, and makes us think of some type of
unforgiving monster. Here, it seems to symbolize the power of illusion or fantasy that keeps defeating the
speaker's attempts to convince himself that what is in front of him is real and can be "grasped."
But there's another way to think about all this: dreams end when we wake up, the sand is running away from
the speaker, and the speaker leaves a woman behind at the beginning.
Hmm. It kind of sounds like this poem has a lot to say about things disappearing from one's life. Life is a
dream, perhaps, because things are always going away: women, reality, people we know, and the like.
Nothing lasts, and when we look back on those things, it feels like a dream.
Check out the symmetry of these lines. The first and third lines in the group are almost identical ("Oh God!
can I not"). The repetition indicates the speaker's continued failure to succeed in his endeavor.
Lines 23-24
But a dream within a dream?
Despite his failures, the speaker apparently does not give up hope. Earlier, he had straight up said all that
we see and seem is just a dream within a dream.
Here in the poem's concluding lines, which repeat the refrain, the speaker phrases it as a question.
Then again, maybe he's just getting a bit desperate and having a "say it ain't so!" moment.
Even after all the sand has run through his fingers, and even after all his weeping, the speaker can't bring
himself to declare that all that we see and seem is but a dream within a dream.
Perhaps he doesn't want to acknowledge the loss of the things in life that have slipped through his fingers
the sand, his ladylove. Maybe he's afraid that none of it was real in the first place. Either way, he's not
exactly pumped about life at this moment.
This second stanza looks a lot like the first. It's chock full of rhymingcouplets, with a trio tossed in there (in
lines 16-18). Only this time, the trio's smack dab in the middle of the stanza, rather than at the beginning,
and the second stanza has an extra two lines tacked on. Be sure to check out "Form and Meter" for more.
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DREAMS
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Symbol Analysis
Life is a dream. That's this poem's central claim and question. At times, the speaker seems totally convinced that
everything around him is just one big illusion, but sometimes he's not so sure. But the real question is, where does all
this angst come from? Why's the speaker so worried about it in the first place? For him, it seems to come from the
fact that once he's lost someone or something, he can't help but wonder if he ever really had it in the first place.
Lines 4-5: The speaker tells the woman she is not wrong in saying that all his days have been a dream. This
sounds like some sort of passive form of acceptance. Rather than agree with her outright, the speaker
simply says she is not wrong. The repetition of the D in these two lines is an example of alliteration.
Line 8: In a poem that is dreamy and about dreams, we'll take the word "vision" to refer to some kind of
dream-like experience.
Line 9: Here's our first hint that this poem might be about more than just dreams. It could also be about loss.
Once something is gone from our speaker's life, it opens up the possibility that when he had it, he was
merely dreaming.
Lines 10-11: The speaker now declares that all that we see, and all that we seem, is just a dream within a
dream. Life isn't real; it's a fantasy or illusion. Is it produced by our minds? Is this just ametaphor for the
ways in which our minds will always process reality for us? Where does this illusion even come from?
These questions remain unanswered so we don't know. What we do know is that there's some
more alliteration. We also know that these lines become a refrain.
Lines 23-24: The speaker phrases the refrain as a question, rather than a statement. This suggests that he's
not so sure about whether or not everything is just a dream within a dream. He's holding out hope for
something "real."
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THE OCEAN
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Symbol Analysis
You might think going to the beach is fun, but you wouldn't think so if you went to this poem's beach. It's loud and
scary, the waves are tormenting and "pitiless," and it provokes despair rather than joy. But despite all the bad mojo,
the ocean is the key to unlocking a great deal of meaning in the poemthe power of illusion, and the speaker's inner
turmoil, for example.
Lines 12-13: The speaker now stands amid the roar of a surf-tormented shore. Although we're thinking it's
not the shore who's tormented here, but our speaker. He's totally in a downward spiral of philosophical
despair. Existential crisis, aisle 3!
Lines 14-15: The grains of sand are golden, and the speaker is holding some of them in his hand. The
grasping of the sand heresymbolizes the speaker's attempts to prove to himself that the world is in fact real,
to prove to himself that it can be grasped, held, and touched, even as it slips away from him.
Lines 19-22: The speaker asks if he can't hold the sands with a tighter grip and if he can't save a few sands
from the "pitiless wave." These questions imply negative answers (the speaker, in fact, cannot do either of
those things), and they again represent his inability to prove that reality is "real" and not just a dream.
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ANALYSIS: FORM AND METER
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Iambic Trimeter Er, Sort Of

The meter of "A Dream Within a Dream" is a complicated affair. Every line in the poem (except line 11, which we'll get
to) contains three feet (tri = three), and the dominant foot is the iamb. Line 16 is a perfect example:
How few! yet how they creep.
Now, just because the iamb is the most common foot type in this poem does not mean it's the only one. In fact, there
are a number of lines that are a bit trickier, such as line 2:
And, in parting from you now.
You will notice that the first beat in the line contains not two but three syllables and is composed of two unstressed
syllables followed by a stressed syllable. This is called an anapest. Apparently, Poe was in a rather, um, anapestic
mood when he wrote this poem because a number of other lines (such as lines 1 and 24, among others) contain
anapests instead of iambs at the beginning.
Metrically Messy
But wait, you said this poem was written in iambic trimeter? Well, technically it is, but that doesn't mean every single
beat has to be an iamb, or that ever line has to be in trimeter. It simply means that most lines have three feet, and
most of the feet are iambs. It's a-okay to play it a bit fast and loose with the meter, and to sub in different feet for the
sake of variety. And Poe never met an anapest he didn't like.
There are lots of reasons why a poet might want to get messy in metrical matters. Doing the same thing all the time
gets really boring, for one, so it's nice to have some variety. Plus, poets will use substitutions for the sake of
emphasis. The anapests in this poem stick out like a sore thumb, and we naturally pay more attention when they
occur. They also help speed things up, so as we read, Poe can carefully control our speed in subtle ways.
Other Shake Ups

As a whole, this poem changes a lot. The two stanzas are of different lengths (the first is 11 lines, the second 13),
there's a bizarre line of iambic tetrameter (11), and anapests are strewn all over the place. These irregularities and
shifts give the poem a "dreamy" effect. You might have noticed things change very quickly, and without warning, in
dreams, just like they do in this poem.
As far as irregularities go, the two stanzas in this poem also have differentrhymes schemes. The scheme for the
entire poem is this: AAABBCCDDEE FFGGHHHII. Both stanzas are composed almost entirely of couplets, or two
lines in a row that rhyme (they're like little couples). Both stanzas also contain a sequence of three lines in a row that
rhyme. But they weirdly occur at different points in each (first three lines in stanza 1, the fifth through seventh in the
second 2). These little triplets complement the poem's anapests (a three-syllable foot) and give the poem a nice
sense of balance. And before we forget, the changing rhyme scheme also helps give the poem that dreamy effect by
slipping in a little weirdness when everything else seems so very regular.
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ANALYSIS: SPEAKER
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The speaker of "A Dream Within a Dream" is one of those really philosophical dudes. He's the kind of guy who likes
to pick up things and stare at them, searching for their deeper meaning. Okay, that's not really our thing, but hey to
each his own, right?
While a lot of us have probably never really stopped and thought deeply about the nature of reality (especially while
at the beach), our speaker sure has. He once met some woman who told him that all that we see or seem is just a
dream within a dream, nothing more. Before he leaves her, he kisses her and tells her that she was not wrong to
think that; he even agrees with her before he takes off for good.
But he's not the kind of guy who's just going to accept something without conducting a few little experiments. After his
departure, he's not so sure about the whole life-is-a-dream deal, so he spends some time grabbing handfuls of sand
at the noisiest beach he can find to try to convince himself that the world was actually real and not just an illusion.
The sand keeps slipping through his fingers, though, which is more than a little exasperating.
Our speaker, however, is not the kind of guy who gives up, or despairs, though he might cry out to God a few times
and start crying like a baby. Even after this little incident with the sand, he still has his doubts. Instead of declaring
that life is just a dream within a dream, he questions whether or not that was really the case, hoping someone will
prove him wrong.
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ANALYSIS: SETTING
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Where It All Goes Down

"A Dream Within a Dream" contains two stanzas and two different settings. Well isn't that convenient? We don't know
a whole lot about where the events of the first stanza take place as the speaker doesn't give us much in the way of,
ahem, details. There's a woman, that's for sure, but we don't learn anything about her. Plus, the stanza is chock full of
confusing musings that don't exactly root us in a firm reality. Everything's happening in the speaker's head. The
focus, after all, is on what he thinksnot where he is.
The second stanza is a little more concrete. There's an ocean, a "surf-tormented shore" (13), golden sand and a ton
of noise. These details are richly symbolic. The surf-tormented shore reminds of the speaker's own torment at not
being able to completely grasp the sand, which is itself a symbol of his attempts to prove that what is in front of him is
real and not just an illusion. The "roar" of the sea faintly recalls the speaker's busy and "noisy" musings from the
stanza and also anticipates the monstrous and "pitiless wave" (22) that keeps swallowing the grains of sand. This
wave in turn reminds us of the power of fantasy and illusion to prevent us from determining what is real and what is
not.
If you were forced to explain the relationship between these two settings, you could say that the second stanza is a
more literal or "external" version of the first. The chaotic, tormented ocean reflects the speaker's frustration in the first
stanza, just as the speaker's grasping of the sand is an attempt to confirm or disprove his and the woman's thoughts
about life being a dream.
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ANALYSIS: WHAT'S UP WITH

THE TITLE?
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Dreams are weird enough as it is, but a dream within a dream? No thanks. When we see a poem with that as the title,
we can't help but groan just a little bit. We expect the poem to be an account of a dream that took place within
another dream, and our heads immediately start spinning. Shmoop saw Inception, and we still can't figure out what
happened at the end.
The good news is that even though the title makes us think the poem is going to be a description of a dream within a
dream, that's not what it is. Sigh. Of. Relief. The poem does seem a little dreamy, sure, but it's really more about a
guy wrestling with the question of whether or not life is real or just an illusiona dream within a dream. The title, then,
tells us what the poem's central preoccupation is: the nature of reality, and if, and how, we can tell if everything
around is real or not, especially in the face of change and loss.
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ANALYSIS: CALLING CARD
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Mystery
Edgar Allan Poe takes the cake when it comes to mystery. From houses spontaneously combusting ("The Fall of the
House of Usher") and letters going missing ("The Purloined Letter") to bizarre hallucinations ("The Tell-Tale Heart"),
mysteries of all kind pervade Poe's works.
"A Dream Within a Dream" is Poe's exploration of the ultimate mystery: reality. In the poem, the question of whether
or not the things we see and seem are actually there and real remains unanswered. By the end of the poem, the
speaker is no closer to solving the question of the nature of reality. While at first he seems sure of it, he concludes by
essentially throwing up his hands, unable to solve the riddle. Hmm, that's kind of how we usually feel at the end of a
Poe story. Maybe he knew what he was up to all along.
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ANALYSIS: TOUGH-O-METER
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(4) Base Camp

The language in this poem is pretty straightforward and simple, and so are the sentences. This poem does get a little
tricky, though, when it comes to content. All that we see and seem is but a dream within a dream? What in the world
is that about?
It's confusing, sure, but it's a classic conundrum that we're all at least a bit familiar with, so it shouldn't throw you for
too much of a loop. You've seenInception after all, right? Right?
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ANALYSIS: TRIVIA
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Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge

Even the Mystery Man's death was mysterious. Nobody is really sure how Poe died. Some suspected causes include:
alcoholism, severe beating, andbrain lesions. (Source.)
Well it's no wonder Poe was preoccupied with the big questions of loss and reality: the guy was an orphan. His father
left when he was young, and he lost his mother to tuberculosis when he was only 3. He was taken by John and
Frances Allan, hence the name Edgar Allan Poe. (Source.)
When Poe returned to the Allans from college in 1826, he discovered that his fiance, Elmira Royster, had run off and
gotten engaged to another man. Another bummer in the poor guy's bummer life. (Source.)
All the songs on the first album by the Alan Parsons Project, "Tales of Mystery and Imagination," are named after Poe
stories and poems. We guess they're fanboys. (Source.)
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ANALYSIS: ALLUSIONS
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When poets refer to other great works, people, and

events, its usually not accidental. Put on your supersleuth hat and figure out why.
Literary and Philosophical References
Plato, Theaetetus (5, 10-11, 23-24)

Aristotle, Metaphysics (5, 10-11, 23-24)
Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy (5, 10-11, 23-24)
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THEME OF PHILOSOPHICAL
VIEWPOINTS: SKEPTICISM
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The idea that everything we experience might all be one big dream is often associated with skepticism, a philosophy
that calls into question our ability to know things for certain. "A Dream Within a Dream" is about a guy who initially
adopts the skeptical position that all of life is just a dream within a dream. At the end of the poem, however, there's a
tricky about-face where the speaker becomes skeptical about his skepticism. He decides that he's not really so sure
about the whole life-is-a-dream philosophy and leaves the question open, and the vicious cycle never ends.
Questions About Philosophical Viewpoints: Skepticism

1.
2.
3.
Why do you think the speaker is unsure at the end of the poem?
What, if anything, might be significant about the fact that the skeptical position is first attributed to the
woman?
What do you make of all the description in the second stanza? Is the speaker trying to prove or deny
something? Why do we suddenly shift to such a concrete setting?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devils advocate.
The speaker's decision not to believe that life is a dream within a dreammakes him the ultimate skeptic.
The speaker is way too skeptical when it comes to the sand. It's in his hands, so the fact that's it slipping away
doesn't mean reality isn't real. Duh.
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THEME OF ISOLATION
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"A Dream Within a Dream" is all about being alone. The speaker says goodbye to a woman in the first stanza, and
spends the second isolated on a beach as he contemplates one of life's biggest questions: is what we see real? It
sure sounds like this is something every person must deal with on their own time, by themselves, not in the company
of other people. This may be because the answer to the riddle of reality requires some quiet time, or is just different
for everybody. Plus, think about it: dreaming is something we do solo, so if life really is a dream within a dream, well,
then were all alone for all of it.
Questions About Isolation
1.
2.
3.
4.
Why do you think the speaker leaves the woman and seeks isolation? Are there any hints in the poem that
can help you answer?
Does this poem contain any images of isolation's opposite, community? If so, what images?
Does the speaker seem okay with his isolation? Or does he seem upset by his loneliness?
How are dreams and isolation related? Does the speaker's departure from the women suggest that he is
waking up alone and leaving the dream world? Or is it the other way around?
Chew on This
Big questions about the nature of reality must be contemplated in isolation.
The speaker's lonely search for answers ends in failure, which implies that isolation may not be the best way to go.
Just sayin'.
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THEME OF DEFEAT
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Let's see, the speaker tries to hold some sand in his hands and just can't do it. And it upsets him. Looks like defeat,
smells defeat, so it must be defeat. The second stanza of this poem isn't the most pleasant thing in the world, partly
because it's all about failure. In addition to showcasing the emotions that come with defeat, "A Dream Within a
Dream" also suggests that any attempts to determine if reality is, you know, real will always end in failure. It's the
bummer of all bummers.
Questions About Defeat

1.
2.
3.
Does the speaker seem to accept defeat at the end of the poem? How can you tell?
If life is just a dream, does it even matter that the speaker is defeated? What are the stakes here, really?
Is the woman at all to blame for the speaker's defeat? Why or why not?
Chew on This
Attempts to uncover the nature of reality will always end in failure; the sand will always slip through one's fingers.
Defeat doesn't have to be defeat. Here's what we mean by that: despite his failure to hold sand in his hands, the
speaker still refuses to believe that life just a dream within a dream. He just won't give up.
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PHILOSOPHICAL VIEWPOINTS:
SKEPTICISM QUOTES
See more famous quotes from poetry
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How we cite our quotes: (Line)

Quote #1
Thus much let me avow (3)

"Avow" is an important word here. The speaker wishes to make a strong declaration of fact, which suggests that he
wants to be certain, rather than skeptical, about something.
Philosophical Viewpoints: Skepticism
Quote #2
You are not wrong, who deem

That my days have been a dream (4-5)
The speaker doesn't say that the woman is right, only that she isnot wrong. The speaker seems unwilling to accept
the skeptical position that life is all a big dream. There's a wee bit of hesitation there.
Quote #3

Is but a dream within a dream (10-11)
The speaker sure seems pretty convinced that life is just a dream within a dream. But skepticism is supposed to be
about uncertainty, so this doesn't seem so skeptical to us. Can you really be certain about uncertainty?
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Quote #4

Grains of the golden sand (12-15)
The speaker definitely emphasizes what he's doing. Note the way "I stand" and "I hold" are at the very beginning of
their respective lines. It's almost like he's trying to convince himself that these actionsstanding at the beach, holding
sandare actually happening, and not just part of a dream within a dream.
Quote #5

But a dream within a dream? (23-24)
The speaker's final words are a question, not a declaration. He's being totally skeptical here, refusing to give an
answer to the question of whether or not really is just a dream within a dream.
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ISOLATION QUOTES
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Quote #1

Thus much let me avow (1-3)
The speaker voluntarily leaves the women and isolates himself. It's almost like he knows he has an important journey
ahead and must go it alone. Then again, perhaps he wants to isolate himself from the woman who has told him life is
a dream. We mean, that's not exactly a compliment.
Isolation
Quote #2

Of a surf-tormented shore, (12-13)
The speaker is alone, on a very loud ("roar"), dangerous beach ("surf-tormented"). The noisy, scary setting reflects
some of the turmoil and frustration of being alone, and the big scary thoughts that are roiling around inside his head.
Isolation
Quote #3

While I weepwhile I weep! (16-18)
Even the sands want no part of the speaker's plans; they desert him ("creep / through"), almost as if they, too, realize
that his quest for understanding must be undertaken in solitude.
Isolation
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Quote #4

One from the pitiless wave? (19-22)
There are several images of isolation in these lines. The letter "I" is repeated twice, and line 22 begins with the word
"one." Overkill? Maybe. After all, we know he's alone, but apparently the point needs to be driven home.
Isolation
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DEFEAT QUOTES
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Quote #1

Is it therefore the less gone? (6-9)
The image of hopelessness here foreshadows the speaker's defeat in the second stanza. It also foreshadows some
of the emotional pain he endures as a result.
Defeat
Quote #2

Of a surf-tormented shore (12-13)
These lines, like lines 6-9 also foreshadow the speaker's impending defeat. The "roar" of the ocean sure sounds
ominous, and the image of a shore being "tormented" or assaulted by the surf reminds us of how the sand will also
torment the speaker, because it's always falling away from him. The dude just can't win.
Defeat
Quote #3

Through my fingers to the deep, (16-17)
The sands have a life of their own; they can "creep" through the speaker's fingers, back to the ocean. It's almost like
they actively defeat him, and there's not a stinkin' thing he can do about it.
Defeat
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Quote #4
While I weepwhile I weep! (18)

The speaker's weeping tells us a lot. It's clear that his attempts to prove that reality is real have ended in defeat. And
he's really unhappy about it, which is why he tells us twice that he is weeping. Just so we don't forget. Not like you
can't hear him all the way to China, anyways. Dude's blubbering.
Defeat
Quote #5

One from the pitiless wave? (19-22)
While these lines are questions, they are questions that imply negative answers: the speaker cannot hold the sand
with a "tighter clasp" or save any grains from the "pitiless wave." He is failing, as we've been led to believe throughout
the poem, and here it seems like he's admitting defeat before the battle's even over with.
Defeat
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QUESTIONS
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Bring on the tough stuff - theres not just one right answer.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Okay. It's time for the Big One. Here we go: Is it possible to know if all of life is just a dream within a dream?
Does the speaker really believe all of life is a dream within a dream, or does he seem doubtful? How can
you tell?
What's with the wonky form? At first glance, it looks pretty straightforward: short rhyming couplets, and
equal-ish stanzas. But then we realize that Poe's got some extra lines and rhymes tucked in there. What's
the effect?
What effect does the rhyme have on the poem's content? Does it make it seem more or less serious?
Why do you think the woman is in this poem? What effect does she have on its themes and message? Is
she just a metaphor, or is she a real figure?
Is this poem about the nature of reality or the nature of loss? Can it be about both?
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