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?
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
Such a beautiful poem. I think I fall into the trap of pegging Edgar Allan Poe's writing as always being creepy and forget that he wrote beautiful things too. Thanks for the reminder! :)
ReplyDeleteIt would have been really interesting to be inside his head. I think often even his creepy writing has some elements of beauty to it -- everything is just so haunted and dark for him.
DeleteBeautiful, beautiful poem. I like Poe, though my favourites have been "Annabel Lee" and "The Raven". I like his choice of words, the air in his poems, and the darkness he brings in. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI like what you say about the "air in his poems." That is a good way to describe it.
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