Humanity often gets the idea of reality and dreams confused. Edgar Allen Poe was born on January 19,1809 in Boston Massachusetts (Contemporary Authors Online) By the time Poe was four years he was fostered by John Allan due to his parents death. At this time Edgar Allan Poe was living in Virginia, where he attended The University of Virginia to further his education (Contemporary Authors Online). John Allan gave him no financial aid with college funds, so Poe found himself in major debt. Edgar Allen Poe later began to have a gambling addiction which worsened his debt issues. The problems he had with money followed him around through his life, which encouraged him to become a successful poet (Lerner, Arthur) A Dream Within a Dream discusses the issues of questioning reality, and wondering if things are more than just a dream. This poem deals with narrator who is leaving their lover. He describes his life as “a dream”, and wonders about “the nature of hope”. He spends time at …show more content…
There are many life events that Poe has experienced that contributed to his writing style. In his poem A Dream Within a Dream Edgar Allen Poe uses metaphors to convey the severity of sadness he felt when experiencing a similar situation as described in the poem. This poem was most likely written due to Edgar Allan Poe’s experience with the death of the women he fell in love with. This caused him severe depression, as well did his mother’s death (Sara Constantakis) This inspired him to write A Dream Within a Dream. The “pitless waves” described in the poem represents the forces life brings along, and the confusion the narrator beings to have when he departs with his love. The narrator also wishes he could hold on to the last few goods moments or “dreams” which is represented by the “grains of golden sand.” This is symbolic of the dreams slipping through his hands as the harshness of reality sets