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Unseen Poetry Guide - Section B - Edexcel English Literature GCSE

The two poems present differing views on time and life. Edgar Allen Poe's "A Dream Within a Dream" depicts life as fleeting and uncertain, likening all we experience to "a dream within a dream." The speaker stands on a shore, helplessly watching grains of sand slip through his fingers and into the sea, unable to stop the passage of time. In contrast, Emily Dickinson's "If I Should Die" presents a calmer view of mortality. It suggests life will continue as normal should the speaker die, with nature and commerce carrying on. While the poems differ in their tones regarding time and life, both use metaphorical language and structure their poems in a way to explore these philosophical ideas.

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107 views

Unseen Poetry Guide - Section B - Edexcel English Literature GCSE

The two poems present differing views on time and life. Edgar Allen Poe's "A Dream Within a Dream" depicts life as fleeting and uncertain, likening all we experience to "a dream within a dream." The speaker stands on a shore, helplessly watching grains of sand slip through his fingers and into the sea, unable to stop the passage of time. In contrast, Emily Dickinson's "If I Should Die" presents a calmer view of mortality. It suggests life will continue as normal should the speaker die, with nature and commerce carrying on. While the poems differ in their tones regarding time and life, both use metaphorical language and structure their poems in a way to explore these philosophical ideas.

Uploaded by

M M
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The question specifies that in your answer you must consider the ideas in the poems, the poets’

use of language, as well as the poets’ use of form and structure. Meanwhile, it is essential that
you can maintain a comparative tone throughout your response.
Compare the ways the two poets present time and life in
“A Dream Within A Dream” and “If I Should Die”.

A Dream Within A Dream If I Should Die


Edgar Allen-Poe Emily Dickenson

Take this kiss upon the brow! If I should die,


And, in parting from you now, And you should live,
Thus much let me avow-- And time should gurgle on,
You are not wrong, who deem And morn should beam,
That my days have been a dream; And noon should burn,
Yet if hope has flown away As it has usual done;
In a night, or in a day, If birds should build as early,
In a vision, or in none, And bees as bustling go,—
Is it therefore the less gone? One might depart at option
All that we see or seem From enterprise below!
Is but a dream within a dream. ’Tis sweet to know that stocks will stand
When we with daisies lie,
I stand amid the roar That commerce will continue,
Of a surf-tormented shore, And trades as briskly fly.
And I hold within my hand It makes the parting tranquil
Grains of the golden sand-- And keeps the soul serene,
How few! yet how they creep That gentlemen so sprightly
Through my fingers to the deep, Conduct the pleasing scene!
While I weep--while 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?
So, when faced with this question after reading it through once and gaining a basic understanding of
the gist of it, you need to think about the following analytical categories:

Similarities Differences

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