A Dream Within A Dream
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
What a beautiful work of art! I recommend reading this poem a few times, just to bathe in it. Absorb the imagery, and the emotion in which it steeps. I especially love the development of the poem. The first stanza is only an introduction to the notion of hopelessness, and that our lives are but a dream. The second stanza drives the feeling home with the use of prayer. You also get a sense of falling: the grains of sand falling through fingers, tears falling from desperate eyes. It definitely leaves one contemplating life's nature.What kinds of feelings do these words pull from you? What do you think?
I think I disagree with this poem. Sometimes it seems as if life is surreal and dream- like, but we are not really living if that is the case. I think the sense of falling and hopelessness in the poem reveals the despair that comes from not having faith in God. We were created for joyful living, not living in a statue of sleepwalking and despair.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. Despite the poem's beauty, it does give one a sense that the speaker has no faith.
ReplyDeleteThis poem is quite a lovely example of the stereotypical "artistic temperament"! Talk about angst!:) But, staying with the biblical theme mentioned above, these sentiments aren't really terribly original. The Bible's book of Ecclesiastes also observes that our lives are fleeting. It's a book of despair for those without faith, but also offers wise counsel on what matters in life. As a student, I rather liked Ecclesiastes 12:12!
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