Reflection: Dreamland by Edgar Allan Poe

After skimming through a few of Edgar Allan Poe's poems, I finally found one that I would consider one of my favorites. It is called Dreamland. Always being intrigued by the unconscious state of mind, all of his poems about dreaming stuck out to me.

Edgar Allan Poe seemed like he was happier when he was asleep and dreaming than when he was awake in the real world. Everything in the dream world seemed to be more exciting and better. For example, when he wrote the following lines, you can tell that he was more interested in "dreamland" (Lines 12-14).

"With forms that no man can discover

            For the tears that drip all over;
            Mountains toppling evermore"

Poe seems to think that you can achieve things in dreamland that you could not achieve in the real world. I think that Poe really enjoys these dreams and hates to wake up to the boring, unpleasant life that he is alone in. When he falls into a dream, he is thrown in an unreal world where anything can happen. When he wakes back up, he realizes that he is stuck in a dark reality. It seems that Poe has been through a lot of hard times in his life and that he is only looking for an escape.

Poe also seems to write about how he wants to keep this world available and hidden from others. If others found it, it would not be as special. For example, in the following passage Poe writes about how it should be kept a secret (Lines 45- 48).

 "But the traveller, travelling through it,             May not- dare not openly view it!             Never its mysteries are exposed             To the weak human eye unclosed"

It is as if these unreal dreams and this brief escape of reality is what keeps him going. In a lot of Poe's poems, he seems to be a depressed. Writing seems to be an escape, just like dreaming, for Poe. A lot of people can relate to this. A lot of times reality can be a dark place for people. Younger people never want to stay where they are from because they get bored and feel trapped. Some turn to drugs to feel something else and to not have to face a boring, dark reality. Others run away and try to get a new perspective by changing scenery. A lot of people have dreams of going somewhere else instead of having to live their same old boring life, but sometimes that is not enough. Sometimes people have to do something about it. Poe's poem, Dreamland, seems to make the reader realize that he or she is not the only one who wants to escape from reality. Dreaming is a way where everyone can get a little taste of something new.

Dreamland seems to flow in a way that you do not even notice unless you look closely. After reading a lot of poetry in school you get used to reading amazing poetry with a great flow and take it for granted. Getting that flow that Poe reaches in his poem is actually difficult and something that an uneducated person may not understand. Poetry is very hard to write, but Poe makes it look easy. His poems give you an escape from your own dark reality and into his. This was a beautiful poem.

Works Cited

Poe, Edgar A. "Edgar Allan Poe: Dreamland." Poetry Lovers' Page. Web. 17 Jan. 2012. .