A Dream Within A Dream

By Edgar Allan Poe

1849

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American author, poet, and literary critic whose works are still widely read today. His lyric poem "A Dream Within a Dream" was written in the 1820s, but it was not published until shortly before his death. In this poem, the narrator contemplates his life and his past.

As you read, take notes on what the speaker questions.

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?