A dream within a dream

Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “A dream within a dream” was first published in the 31 March 1849 edition of the Boston-based story paper “The Flag of Our Union”.

Edgar Allan Poe was born on 19 January 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts, US, and he died on 7 October 1849 in Baltimore, Maryland, US, at the age of 40.

A writer, poet, editor, and critic, Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre, and is widely regarded as a central figure of American Romanticism. He was one of the country’s earliest practitioners of the short story, was considered to be the inventor of the detective fiction genre, and was a significant contributor to the emerging genre of science fiction.

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Posted: 21 March 2023
Word length: 117
Video length: 1:51

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?

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