Suad Hersi
ENG 4UE-25
Ms. WinicK
August 6th, 2015

Dreamland

“A poem is a communication from one soul to another that makes one or both hearts sing” (Mayes, 1998). A good poem should be written with a concise and accurate use of diction and connotation in order to accurately portray a meaningful theme or hidden message. Poetry has the ability to encapsulate broad ideas with a minimal use of words through the use of different literary and poetic devices. Edgar Allan Poe’s unfortunate loss of both parents and upbringing with adoptive parents were his inspiration for his many poems and short stories, which reflected on his alienation, loneliness, grief and sorrow. I believe the poem “Dreamland” by Edgar Allan Poe is the best poem in the world for the reason being that it uses an effective form and rhyming scheme and effectively uses literary and poetic devices such as allusions, personification, and hyperboles in order to convey the message of grief and one’s search for their “dreamland”.

The form of the poem Dreamland is written in Iambic Tetrameter couplets that are separated into different stanzas. Poe uses an A-A-B-B rhyming scheme during every stanza, which focuses on making the last word in the end of a verse rhyme with the following line’s last verse.

Poe effectively captures the poetic device of allusion as he uses references to mythology such as El Dorado to capture the essence of paradise and hope. In the poem, “Tis a peaceful, soothing region/Tis-oh, ‘tis an Eldorado” (Line 28) depicts an image of a glittering cityscape flashing before our eyes, which gives the reader a sense of hope for the first time in the poem. Unfortunately to the reader’s surprise, El Dorado does not exist. El Dorado is mythical city made entirely of gold. This place can be compared to Atlantis, the place you could spend eternity