, so as well as resenting the theft of his dream, he may also be feeling the loss of summer itself. He mentions that Science has refused to leave him alone in his “wandering” beneath the sky, so perhaps he has chosen to address the stars that he can no longer look upon with an undaunted eye. Poe’s use of the sonnet to convey his speaker’s dismay suggests that, as tradition dictates, there is a question being asked and an answer being reached. The question here is obvious- the speaker wants to know why Science must impose her “dull realities” on mythology and fantasy. He also asks why the poet should love and appreciate Science when she has destroyed the treasures of dreams and imagination. However, there is no definite “answer” to these questions in the last two lines of the sonnet. Here the speaker only personalizes his inquisition and finishes off with another question. The only transition made during this turn is that the speaker uses the personal pronoun “me” for the first time, tying in the question to his own personal feelings. Therefore, this sonnet does not conform to the conditions of the traditional English sonnet; it asks questions but, at the “turn,” reaches no conclusion. Not even the tone changes in the last two lines; it only grows more intense. The lack of resolution at the end of this poem leaves it to seem unfinished, and perhaps the use of the sonnet form detracts from the message. Readers expect an answer from a sonnet, and when none comes, one wonders why Poe chose to use this particular form for a question to which he had no answer.Throughout Edgar Allen Poe’s “Sonnet- to Science,” the speaker angrily accuses his subject of ruining mythology and imagination. He questions her and demands to know why she must force her “dull realities” on his dreamsand those of other poets. However, the speaker never reac...
