The primary setting of “A Dream Within a Dream” emerges within the second stanza of the poem. Poe situates himself on “surf-tormented shore” where he experiences the inevitable loss of everything – “Trains of the golden sand / – How few! yet how they creep / Through my fingers to the deep” (15-17). To this beachfront setting, Poe instills a subtle irony. Though the beach with its countless grains of sand presents seemingly myriad possibilities, all these beloved possibilities are inevitably ungraspable – again, “they creep / Through my fingers to the deep.” The waves facing the shore present a similar sense of irony. The waters, rather than symbolizing a wide expanse that leads to new unexplored territories, instead violently contributes to Poe’s sense of abject loss – he laments, “can I not save / One from the pitiless wave?” (21-22). The setting of the beach comes to represent the opposite of its usual connotations...