Edgar Allen Poe's juxtaposition of beauty and nightmare in “Dreamland” and “A Dream Within a Dream” reveals his perpetual struggle between mania and depression. Losing both parents at the age of eight, Poe continued to suffer from gambling addiction and social isolation during his time at Virginia University (uncp.edu). After leaving university, he achieved literary fame through his poetry, fiction and criticism. However, Poe consistently squandered opportunities for much-needed wealth by antagonizing important figures. Edgar's reckless and antisocial habits show a convincing diagnosis of mania. This mania, combined with his fascination with death, general irritability, and eventual suicidality, verifies his depressive side of bipolar disorder (nimh.nih.gov). Poe's extreme highs and lows, due to his manic depression, allowed him to write the distorted and beautiful poetry for which he is famous. Teetering between fear and wonder, the author's tone and word choice in “Dreamland” stem from a bipolar episode. The choice of the word “fire skies”.”...