Do you get the symbolism?

idiom

Hey All,

Without saying anything really about the image, I am wondering if anybody can tell how this photograph of mine correlates with A Dream Within A Dream by Edgar Allen Poe.

I do still plan on trying to lighten the dark areas a tad, keeping the candles the same.

All CC is welcomed and appreciated of course.



"All light fades, as all sand ends in the deep."

Karrie McD

I guess I'll jump in here because I am sure you are wanting some kind of responce to your post

Well, I don't get it. Sorry... but to be honest with you though, I didn't get the poem at first either...well...I didn't get the poem for a whole week before something finally came to me.

So, that being said...just because I don't get it doesn't mean it is not good. However, I have noticed here that people don't like leaving feedback too much unless they like/understand the photo No one wants to get anyone upset by telling them "I don't get your photo"

So, I guess, take that for what is it is worth. Maybe explain your photo a little more or go back to the drawing board.

I hope this helps you instead of upsetting you...
And, of course you could pay no attention to the woman behind the curtain...I don't know what I am talking about half the time.

divamum

I've been thinking about this since you posted it, and haven't quite found it yet (hence why I hadn't yet replied). That said, I'm not a huge Poe girl, so if it's an allusion to a detail in one of his other works, I likely wouldn't catch it unless it was pointed out.

And googling your title kept bringing up a Wilfrid Owen poem (which didn't actually have that line it it - google, getcher act together! lol) which, while interesting, isn't what I think you're going for either.

Is there a burial ritual where candles go at the head and the feet?

Grasping at straws here, but... figured I'd give it a try!!

richtersl

I like the photo itself but I'm not sure it works for this challenge with just the candles. It also needs a human element for it to work with the Poe poem that Emily posted.

idiom

Thanks, I really did want the honesty and I wanted to know if people were going to get it or not. I keep thinking back to Shatch's photograph of the lady under the lamp shade. A lot of work went into it, It was a great photo, not a single person understood how it related to the challenge.

So, any comments of this nature, or anybody telling me anything I could do better would ever upset me, I appreciate you making the first comment Karrie.



So, it's obvious that I need to shoot something else. haha.

But, here is my thoughts on the poem and edgar allen poe.



When it came up, (as everybody on this forum did i'm sure) I spent like 4-5 days running that peom through my head. Then looking it up on the net to see what others though about it.

My conclusion about the poem is this: At the stage of his life when he wrote "A Dream Within a Dream" his wife was dying of TB, His mother was dead, and his father had left his family long ago never to be seen again by him.

The few things in his life that meant anything to him were slipping away (burning out). Like golden sand through his hand. I feel this poem is about him coming to grips with the fact that he lived a great life, and stepped on people along the way, not leaving him many friends or loved ones. Now that the loved ones in his life were dying and slipping away, he became depressed. His wife died, then he died a year later.

So, basically, the candles are his family and friends. The two in the middle, the large and the small one melted together are Edgar and Virginia Poe. Her candle being almost burnt out shows she is dying. His big candle that is hollowed all the way down shows that he is dying before his time. The four candles closest to him that are burnt out completely are dead family members, and the ones that are still lit are family/friends that remain alive, but are dead to him. (his father for example.)



The reason, for this, was because I kinda thought that a lot of people would do the whole Dream within a Dream thing, or golden sand thing. I just thought something different would be nice, but clearly I went too different.

richtersl

You put a lot of thought into the symbolism. WOW!

I struggled with it a bit, but was able to see what others had done thru Google Images.

ifocus

richtersl wrote:

You put a lot of thought into the symbolism. WOW!

I struggled with it a bit, but was able to see what others had done thru Google Images.

This poem may appeal to many but English being my second language and having no education/culture of English literature; well I just cannot get it! From where I come from, your picture could very well illustrate "a dream within a dream". JY

Flyinggina

What a beaitiful and thoughtful interpretation of the poem.

I confess I didn't get it either when I first looked at your photograph but that is my lack, not yours, methinks.

Maybe not for this challenge, but one you should be proud of on many levels.

Virginia

CookieS

So Im confused by some of the entries in the MAIN thread. for the CHALLENGE arent we supposed to create an image that corralates to the POE poem that was listed. ?? that is how I understood it. Interpret parts of the poem and create and image based on that?

DaddyO

I confess I didn't get the symbolism of your photo. Matched with your
thoughts of what was going on in his life at the time he wrote the poem
the photo them becomes easier to understand. A photo that needs an
explanation to get a sense of it.... well...

I appreciate reading your thoughts of what was going on in Poes life just
at that moment and your photo effort depicting those elements. Pretty cool. Pretty deep.

Nice link that Ifocus provided to image depictions of Dream Within A Dream.
Needed that to get a sense of direction one could take to possibly
illustrate the theme. Looks like that direction takes many different forms.
Many having nothing to do with Poe but just trying to put forward images
that may show what a Dream Within A Dream might look like.

Michael

divamum

idiom - Have continued thinking about this and with just a few more visual clues (props?) I think it could work to express exactly what you describe.one slightly OT comment in regard to the poem in general (responding more to the comments here rather than your image, Idiom) is to remember that the poem itself is highly ambiguous (this can either be viewed as artistic strength OR flaw depending on your literary technique preferences!)... which is I'm sure one of the reasons Our Fearless Leader chose it :DSpeaking for myself, I wound up with something terribly literal, the irony being that's exactly what the poem *isn't* lol (i had several other more... er... poetic ideas, none of which were possible to shoot within the time period - oh well!) Just further musings....

idiom

DaddyO wrote:

A photo that needs an explanation to get a sense of it.... well...

DaddyO, I completely agree with this statement. 100%.
However, that being said, I feel that way about every dgrin challenge. There are quite a few photos in each challenge that do not display apparent relation to the challenge topic.

I suppose I kind of just thought that more people would do a bit more reseach into the poem and author. In the end it was fun, I learned a lot about AEP that I likely would have never known.

That also being said, I had some other ideas for this challenge which are not working out for me at all!

Thanks again to everybody for the questions and comments.

divamum

(SO sorry to have mistakenly deleted the original text of my earlier post - I was writing from my handheld and meant to "reply" but somehow "edited" - whoops!)

idiom - Have continued thinking about this and with just a few more visual clues (props?) I think it could work to express exactly what you describe.

One slightly OT comment in regard to the poem in general (responding more to the comments here rather than your image, Idiom) is to remember that the poem itself is highly ambiguous (this can either be viewed as artistic strength OR flaw depending on your literary technique preferences!)... which is I'm sure one of the reasons Our Fearless Leader chose it

Speaking for myself, I wound up with something terribly literal, the irony being that's exactly what the poem *isn't* lol (i had several other more... er... poetic ideas, none of which were possible to shoot within the time period - oh well!)

Just further musings....