A Dream Within a Dream: Meter

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“A Dream Within a Dream” is unique in the way its two stanzas each feature a distinct underlying metrical rhythm. Most of the lines in the first stanza consist of iambic tetrameter. That means that most of the lines in the poem consist of four iambs, where an iamb is a metrical foot made up of one unstressed and one stressed syllable (as in the word “be-lieve”). Whereas most lines in the first stanza are written in iambic tetrameter, most of the lines in the second stanza are written in iambic trimeter, meaning they have just three iambic feet. Upon first reading, this slight shift in the poem’s underlying rhythm is barely noticeable. The shift proves especially subtle, given that the first stanza also includes a couple lines of iambic trimeter. So, when the trimeter returns in the second stanza, the reader’s ear has already been primed to hear it. Upon subsequent readings, however, the reader notices that the cadence of the poem seems to speed up in the second stanza. After the slightly more languorous pace of the first stanza, the pace of the second suggests a sensation of increasing agitation, which reflects the speaker’s escalating distress.

Although each stanza has its own underlying rhythm, Poe complicates matters through frequent use of a metrical technique known as catalexis (CAT-uh-LEK-sis). Catalexis typically refers to the dropping of an unstressed syllable from the end of a line. However, there are catalectic lines that lack the opening unstressed syllables. Such lines are called “headless.” There are several headless lines in this poem. Consider the opening five lines:

Lines 1, 2, and 5 all share the same meter. That is, they are headless lines of iambic tetrameter. The square brackets indicate the missing unstressed syllable at the beginning of these lines. By contrast, lines 3 and 4 are straight lines of iambic trimeter. That said, some readers might prefer to scan the first foot of line 4 not as an iamb but as a trochee, with the first syllable stressed: “You are.” Regardless of how you scan this foot, the point is that Poe’s use of headless, catalectic lines adds a dimension of instability and uncertainty to the overall meter. Indeed, when you read the poem aloud for the first time, the persistent metrical variance can easily trip you up. This experience helps to illuminate the poem’s overall concern with uncertainty.