Poe's Poetry Summary and Analysis of "A Dream Within a Dream"

Summary:
The narrator kisses the listener in parting. He tells the listener that he agrees that his life has been a dream, but he suggests that everything "is but a dream within a dream." He stands on the shore of the ocean, holding grains of sand as he cries. He cannot keep the sand from running out of his hand, and he wonders if he cannot save even one grain from the surf.
Analysis:
The structure of "A Dream Within a Dream" consists of two stanzas containing two disparate but

Poe's Poetry Summary and Analysis of "The Conqueror Worm"

Summary:
An audience of angels gathers to watch a play. Mimes fly around the stage, seemingly as puppets driven by invisible forces, and the plot describes sin, madness, and horror. The crawlingConqueror Worm then appears, writhing as it eats the mimes. The curtain falls, and the distressed angels affirm that the play is a tragedy called "Man" and that the Conqueror Worm is the hero.
Analysis:
In its relatively brief five stanzas, "The Conqueror Worm" seeks to tell the allegorical history of

Poe's Poetry Summary and Analysis of "Lenore"

De Verde cannot weep for his dead beloved Lenore. He gives an elegy in which he berates everyone for loving her wealth and hating her pride, suggesting that people had wished her ill and effectively killed her. The narrator asks him not to speak in this manner, although Lenore has taken away Hope in her death. Guy responds that he does not mourn because her soul has ascended to Heaven.
Analysis:
Poe returns to his frequent themes of death and beauty in "Lenore," where, as in many of his works,

Poe's Poetry Summary and Analysis of "To Helen" (1831)

Summary:
The narrator praises Helen for her beauty, which he compares to a ship bringing a "weary, wayworn wanderer" to his home. Her classic beauty has reminded him of ancient times, and he watches her stand like a statue while holding a stone lamp.
Analysis:

In "To Helen," first published in 1831 and revised in later years, Poe displays an early interest in the

Poe's Poetry Summary and Analysis of "Sonnet - To Science"

Science, by enforcing reality and its dull truth, takes away from the abilities of poets. A poet cannot love or respect Science because it would rather study the stars than listen to his fancies. Because of Science, the old myths about nymphs and nature have lost their power, and poets can no longer dream easily.
Analysis:
"Sonnet - To Science" is a poet's lament over the dangers of scientific development and its negative

Poe's Poetry Summary and Analysis of "Tamerlane"

While confessing his sins to a priest, the narrator Tamerlane says that he desires but does not expect forgiveness for the effect of his pride, and any hope he has must come from a divine rather than a human source. His glory and success have come at the expense of his heart, and he misses his younger days. Once, his spirit was triumphant, born of his early life on a mountain. He rejoiced in battle and victory, and he delighted in the praise of other men. However, in his youth, he fell in love with a woman whom he can now barely remember.

Poe's Poetry Summary

Although Poe wrote a relatively small number of poems over the course of his lifetime, his writings are still widely read, studied, and performed. "Tamerlane" was one of his earliest works, written originally in 1827 and published in his first poetry volume, Tamerlane and Other Poems, but he heavily revised and shortened this fanciful tale of the central Asian conqueror's deathbed confession when preparing it for publication in 1829's Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems. The introductory poem to this latter collection was "Sonnet - To Science," in which a poet laments the dulling effects

Lord of the Flies 12 Summary and Analysis: Cry of the Hunters

Raplh hides in the jungle, worrying about his wounds and the inhuman violence into which the boys on the island have devolved. He thinks about Simon and Piggy and realizes that civilization is now impossible among the boys. Ralph, who is not far from the Castle Rock, thinks he sees Bill in the distance. He concludes that the boy is not Bill-at least not any more. This boy is a savage, entirely

Lord of the Flies 11 Summary and Analysis: Castle Rock

On the beach Ralph, Piggy, and Samneric gather around the remains of the signal fire, bloody and wounded. They attempt to rekindle the fire, but it is impossible without Piggy's glasses. Ralph, blowing the conch, calls an assembly of the boys who remain with them. Piggy, squinting and unable to see, asks Ralph to instruct them about what can be done. Ralph responds that what they most need

Lord of the Flies 10 Summary and Analysis: The Shell and the Glasses

On the humid, dark mountaintop, Simon's fit passes into the weariness of sleep. Waking up, Simon speaks aloud to himself, questioning what he will do next. His nose bleeding, he climbs farther up the mountain, and in the dim light, catches sight of the Beast. This time, however, he recognizes it as the body of the man who parachuted onto the island. Overwhelmed with disgust and dread, Simon

Lord of the Flies 9 Summary and Analysis: A View to a Death

On the humid, dark mountaintop, Simon's fit passes into the weariness of sleep. Waking up, Simon speaks aloud to himself, questioning what he will do next. His nose bleeding, he climbs farther up the mountain, and in the dim light, catches sight of the Beast. This time, however, he recognizes it as the body of the man who parachuted onto the island. Overwhelmed with disgust and dread, Simon

Lord of the Flies 8 Summary and Analysis: Gift for the Darkness

The next morning, the boys gather on the beach to discuss what the hunters saw. Ralph tellsPiggy about the creature on the mountain, which he describes as a beast with teeth and big black eyes. Piggy is skeptical. Jack assures the group that his hunters can defeat the beast, but Ralph dismisses Jack's group as no more than boys with sticks. Jack tells the other boys that the beast is a hunter, and

Lord of the Flies 7 Summary and Analysis: Shadows and Tall Trees

The boys continue to travel across the island to the mountain, and they stop to eat. Ralphnotices how long his hair is and how dirty and unclean he has become. He has been following the hunters, and he observes that on this side of the island, which is opposite to the one on which the boys have settled, the view is utterly different. The horizon is a hard, clipped blue, and the ocean crashes against the

Lord of the Flies 6 Summary and Analysis: Beast from Air

Later that night, Ralph and Simon pick up Percival and carry him into a shelter. Overhead, beyond the horizon, there is an aerial battle while the boys sleep. They do not hear the explosions in the sky, nor do they see a pilot drop from a parachute, sweeping across the reef toward the mountain. Unbeknownst to the boys, the dead pilot lands on the mountaintop, his flapping chute throwing

Lord of the Flies 5 Summary and Analysis: Beast From Water

Ralph goes to the beach because he needs a place to think and feels overcome with frustration and impotence. He is saddened by his own physical appearance, which has grown shabby with neglect. In particular, his hair has grown uncomfortably long. He understands the weariness of life, where everything requires improvisation. Ralph decides to call a meeting near the bathing pool, realizing

Lord of the Flies 4 Summary and Analysis: Painted Faces and Long Hair

The boys become accustomed to the pattern of their days on the island although it is impossible to adjust to the new rhythms of tropical life, which include the strange point at midday when the sea rises and appears to contain flickering images. Piggy discounts the midday illusions as mere mirages. While mornings are cool and comfortable, the afternoon sun is oppressively hot and bright, which

Lord of the Flies 3 Summary and Analysis: Huts on the Beach

Jack scans the oppressively silent forest, looking for pigs to hunt. A bird startles him as he progresses along the trail. He examines the texture of vines ("creepers") to determine whether or not pigs have run through that section of the brush. Finally, Jack spots a path cleared by pigs (a "pig run") and hears the pattering of hooves. He raises his spear and hurls it at a group of pigs, driving them away and thus

Lord of the Flies 2 Summary and Analysis: Fire on the Mountain

Back with the group the same evening, Ralph blows the conch shell to call another meeting. The effects of abandonment are visible in the boys' attire: the sunburned children have put on clothing once more, while the choir is more disheveled, having abandoned their cloaks. When the group of boys give Ralph full attention, Ralph suffers a brief lapse in confidence and is unsure whether to

Lord of the Flies 1 Summary and Analysis: The Sound of the Shell

On a tropical island, a twelve-year-old boy with fair hair is climbing out of plane wreckage (referred to as "the scar") on a beach and towards a lagoon. He faces another child around his age, a fat boy with glasses. The two, who have not previously met, begin a conversation. The fair-haired boy introduces himself as Ralph, while the heavy boy accidentally reveals his nickname at school:

Lord of the Flies Summary

During an unnamed time of war, a plane carrying a group of British schoolboys is shot down over the Pacific. The pilot of the plane is killed, but many of the boys survive the crash and find themselves deserted on an uninhabited island, where they are alone without adult supervision. The first two boys introduced are the main protagonists of the story: Ralph is among the oldest of the boys, handsome