In "Dayless Dawn", Machado de Assis tells the story of the young poet Luís Tinoco, who, moved by his passions, believes he is destined for a brilliant future in literature and oratory, even though his speeches and poems are somewhat exaggerated and disjointed. The story reveals, in Machado de Assis' brilliant irony, the disillusionment of the average Brazilian with their grand missions in life, guided by vanity and presumption, and their attachment to the material and concrete life of social reality.