A Dream Within a Dream

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 (1809–1849) was an American writer, poet, and critic known for his influential contributions to Gothic literature, short fiction, and modern poetry. He is widely recognized for his exploration of mystery, psychological depth, and the macabre.

Copyright Credit: Edgar Allan Poe, "A Dream Within a Dream" from The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe, ed. R. W. Griswold. New York: J. S. Redfield, 1850. Public Domain.