Imitation, Edgar Allan Poe: Summary, Analysis & Themes
"Imitation" is a 20-line poem by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in his early collection Tamerlane and Other Poems in 1827. The poem consists of rhymed couplets, where the speaker reflects on his youth, comparing it to a dream as his reality becomes increasingly difficult to bear. Some scholars suggest that the poem may be autobiographical, written during a time of deepening tensions in Poe’s relationship with his foster father, John Allan. Over time, Poe revised this poem, which eventually evolved into his more famous work, "A Dream Within A Dream." "Imitation" Poem Text by Edgar Allan Poe
A dark unfathomed tide
Of interminable pride—
A mystery, and a dream,
Should my early life seem;
I say that dream was fraught
With a wild and waking thought
Of beings that have been,
Which my spirit hath not seen,
Had I let them pass me by,
With a dreaming eye!
Let none of earth inherit
That vision of my spirit;
Those thoughts I would control,
As a spell upon his soul…