A Dream Within a Dream by Edgar Allan Poe

A Dream Within a Dream

BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

Take this kiss upon the brow!

And, in parting from you now,

Thus much let me avow —

You are not wrong, who deem

That my days have been a dream;

Yet if hope has flown away

In a night, or in a day,

In a vision, or in none,

Is it therefore the less gone?  

All that we see or seem

Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar

Of a surf-tormented shore,

And I hold within my hand

Grains of the golden sand —

How few! yet how they creep

Through my fingers to the deep,

While I weep — while I weep!

O God! Can I not grasp 

Them with a tighter clasp?

O God! can I not save

One from the pitiless wave?

Is all that we see or seem 

But a dream within a dream?

Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. 

Born: 19 January 1809, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Died: 7 October 1849, Church Home and Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Short stories: The Black Cat, The Tell-Tale Heart, MORE

Poems: The Raven, Annabel Lee, The Bells, MORE

Quotes

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.

We loved with a love that was more than love.

Quoth the raven, "Nevermore!"