Tuesday, October 16, 2007
More on "Dream within a Dream" (Robert)
*Although Poe wields the same tools as other writers of his era and before--deliberate use of meter and a use of rhyme that appears strictly regulated from its exterior--the personality of his work arises from those instances in which he reshapes these materials to enforce attentiveness to the subject matter.Classic writers like Shakespeare have often added a foot or two to otherwise perfectly scanning forms such as the sonnet, with the intention of bringing the reader's eye to those words in the odd line. Poems such as Poe's "A Dream Within a Dream," however, lure the reader into making the false assumption that a strict pattern is impending, then give rise to a whole stanza in need of rereading.. . . " (rest in Comments)
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4 comments:
Robert continues:
""A Dream Within a Dream," shortly executed in two stanzas, seems at a glance to be at the peak of convention--rhyming couplets abound and there is an anticipation of leisurely scansion. Once the reading of the poem begins, however, the first few words--arguably anapestic--jar the reading and immediately create a rough texture both orally and within mental reading."
[? not sure where your sense of a three-syllable, anapestic foot is coming from. . . I read it as 3 trochees with a shortened foot at the end:
TAKE this/ KISS u/PON the/ BROW
I realize that it can be frustrating to decide what to do with an odd number of syllables--whether to say one of those is a 3-syllable foot or not. The key is to look for STRESSES, not syllables, and when in doubt, to go with the meter that is more common in the poem as a whole.]
"Because much of the poem could be read as containing an iambic and anapestic mix . . ."
[the iambs alternate with trochees--but yes, "In a night" is a natural anapest]
"(with a wildly inconsistent trimeter scan),"
[trimeter, like tetrameter and pentameter, refers to the length of the line. But the point is well taken: this poem alternates trimeter and tetrameter lines unpredictably]
" the presence of trochee or dactyl hardly seem out of the ordinary with the first read.
What could be called even more interesting is the inconsistent rhyme scheme. In spite of the expectation of constant rhyming couplets, the poem begins instead with a triplet, shaking the reading briefly before settling into the couplet form. Any assumption that this would at least be symmetrically represented in the second stanza is quickly denied, as the triplet which appears in that stanza occurs not until the fifth line."
[Excellent point!]
No one would call Poe's choices in meter and rhyme arbitrary or poorly constructed; instead, what he has created is an almost jagged reading that puts the poem on an instable foundation. In doing so, the themes of grasping sand (a metaphor for a failed attempt in seeking permanence in a world with questionable validity) is strongly reinforced by a similar search for stability within the poem giving way to the need to question. What could otherwise have fallen within the boundaries of the redundant, instead produces a poem that insists upon its content from the first word read."
[Great!]
I agree. I found that the effect of reading "A Dream Within A Dream," especially aloud, was one of being on unstable footing. The emphasis seems oddly irregular (as in the first line: "Take this kiss upon the brow"), as it makes me want to emphasize the second, normally lighter, foot "Take THIS kiss UPon THE brow." This may simply be a stylistic misunderstanding on my part of how to deal with an odd number of syllables per line, but it seems that Poe is playing with the idea of where to stress on purpose. It seems that the first word, "TAKE" should be emphasized, but that we resolutely want to end the line with emphasis as well "BROW," particularly because the last word or syllable of the line is what does the rhyming. The fact that the poem is rather short and written mostly in one- or two- syllable words makes playing with the stressing of syllables both easier and also more dangerous.
On the other hand, it is interesting to note where he falls out of iambs in "A Dream Within a Dream." How would you break up the line "Grains of the golden sand"? This is surely not in iambs, but it seems to come out of nowehere, relatively speaking. I feel as if Poe started us out on this poem on slightly shaky ground and then thrust us into quicksand, only to put us back in solid verse again near the end (O god CAN i NOT grasp/THEM with A tightER clasp). Does this contribute to the meaning of the poem? I feel like somehow it must--the idea of convention, breaking convention, returning to convention. Any thoughts?
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