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A Dream Within a Dream
"All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream."
A Dream Within a Dream is a poem written by Edgar Allan Poe, and a fine example of his contribution to Dark Romanticism. It was first published in the March 31, 1849, edition of the Boston-based story paper The Flag of Our Union.The poem questions the way one can distinguish between reality and fantasy, asking, "Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream?"
Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) was a master of tales of the mysterious and macabre. From the eerie incantations found in 'The Raven' (1845) to the persistent fright of 'The Tell-Tale Heart' (1843), his stories and poems are unforgettable explorations of the darker side of life that still offer lessons and insight into human behavior today, making them an integral component of any modern reader's repertoire.
Is but a dream within a dream."
A Dream Within a Dream is a poem written by Edgar Allan Poe, and a fine example of his contribution to Dark Romanticism. It was first published in the March 31, 1849, edition of the Boston-based story paper The Flag of Our Union.The poem questions the way one can distinguish between reality and fantasy, asking, "Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream?"
Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) was a master of tales of the mysterious and macabre. From the eerie incantations found in 'The Raven' (1845) to the persistent fright of 'The Tell-Tale Heart' (1843), his stories and poems are unforgettable explorations of the darker side of life that still offer lessons and insight into human behavior today, making them an integral component of any modern reader's repertoire.
2 pages, Unknown Binding
First published March 31, 1849
12 people are currently reading
875 people want to read
About the author
Edgar Allan Poe
9,893 books28.6k followersThe name Poe brings to mind images of murderers and madmen, premature burials, and mysterious women who return from the dead. His works have been in print since 1827 and include such literary classics as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and The Fall of the House of Usher. This versatile writer’s oeuvre includes short stories, poetry, a novel, a textbook, a book of scientific theory, and hundreds of essays and book reviews. He is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the modern detective story and an innovator in the science fiction genre, but he made his living as America’s first great literary critic and theoretician. Poe’s reputation today rests primarily on his tales of terror as well as on his haunting lyric poetry.
Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.
The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...
Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.
The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 145 reviews
September 21, 2020
An ethereal pondering poem that begs many philosophical questions. I can almost picture Poe standing on the beach, thinking these thoughts.
Read
May 26, 2020
I recall one of my most frightening dreams – a dream within a dream. Here it is:
It’s 5am, a glimmer of morning light providing enough vision to see in shadows. My head’s on my pillow and I look up and to the right: over the bedroom door there’s a mass, what I eventually detect as a face. Ah, I say to myself, I must have just now awoken from a dream and the barely discernible outline of a dark head with eyes, nose and mouth must be the play of shadows. Now awake, I linger on this dreamlike vision. Suddenly, the face turns toward me and makes a low roar. Startled, I sit up and let out a shout.
On reflection, I experienced a double whammy, a dream within a dream. Thus, I have an added appreciation for this Edgar Allan Poe poem:
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?”
January 4, 2018
“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?”
July 6, 2020
A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM is a sonnet of sadness and loss, and is listed as one of POE'S top five works of poetry.
It ends.....
"Is all that we see or seem ~ But a dream within a dream?"
From my big book of POE. 
February 18, 2017
I'm really starting to like Edgar Allan Poe's poetry. Which is unexpected because I don't tolerate any other poet of Romantic era at least I hate those I know.
July 19, 2016
Definitely one of my favourite poems.
April 30, 2013
As seen on Wikipedia, "The poem dramatizes a confusion in watching the important things in life slip away. Realizing he cannot hold onto even one grain of sand leads to his final question that all things are a dream."
March 22, 2019
"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?"
December 14, 2018
A Dream Within A Dream is one of those Poe poems I would not label a favourite, but it is one I really appreciate.
Short and simple, it is easy to follow, with the end of the poem really hitting you. Without a doubt, this is another of Poe’s poems that people need to give a read.
Short and simple, it is easy to follow, with the end of the poem really hitting you. Without a doubt, this is another of Poe’s poems that people need to give a read.
December 3, 2021
what a great poem
audiobook
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAG-j...
audiobook
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAG-j...
May 11, 2022
This poem is a perfect reflection of my psyche lately: in a state of disorientation. What? You weren't relying on your dreams to buffer the effects of a quarter-life crisis, too?
September 23, 2020
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?
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?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 22, 2023
"[...] they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep—while i weep!"
a sweet little poem about grief and mourning all wrapped up into twenty-four lines. the poem entails the narrator watching as the things he cares about slip away, like grains of sand through his fingers.
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep—while i weep!"
a sweet little poem about grief and mourning all wrapped up into twenty-four lines. the poem entails the narrator watching as the things he cares about slip away, like grains of sand through his fingers.
August 22, 2018
Poe never ceases to amaze.
This is yet another beautiful piece by my favourite poet. I felt his deep affection at first then his confusion which eventually gave way distraught desperation near the end - and wow, that made for a powerful piece of literature.
He is concise and speaks so well in so few words. Not a single word or syllable or bit of punctuation is redundant.
I don't know how I didn't read this already. Thank you for recommending it, Aya!
•
•
{I read this out to my two youngest siblings in the car and the 12-year-old said she thought it was beautiful while the 10-year-old announced that he hadn't heard anything except the words "oh god". No one commented on my awesome dramatic reading.}
This is yet another beautiful piece by my favourite poet. I felt his deep affection at first then his confusion which eventually gave way distraught desperation near the end - and wow, that made for a powerful piece of literature.
He is concise and speaks so well in so few words. Not a single word or syllable or bit of punctuation is redundant.
I don't know how I didn't read this already. Thank you for recommending it, Aya!
•
•
{I read this out to my two youngest siblings in the car and the 12-year-old said she thought it was beautiful while the 10-year-old announced that he hadn't heard anything except the words "oh god". No one commented on my awesome dramatic reading.}
December 26, 2017
An excellent poem by Edgar Allan Poe
He illustrates that human life is slipping away, dribbling like sand and implies that our existence is just an abstraction of the mind. He is unsure about whether or not everything he sees and seems is just a dream within a dream.
He illustrates that human life is slipping away, dribbling like sand and implies that our existence is just an abstraction of the mind. He is unsure about whether or not everything he sees and seems is just a dream within a dream.
July 14, 2016
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
Is but a dream within a dream.
August 30, 2021
Less a poem to my eyes and more a fevered prayer, absolutely beautiful.
October 5, 2016
Poetry is definitely a weak spot for me as a reader, but I tried to arrange my thoughts on this poem into a haiku as best as I was able:
"Tides are meant to rise,
No expiration be stayed,
And no moment last."
"Tides are meant to rise,
No expiration be stayed,
And no moment last."
November 19, 2016
"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."
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."
March 12, 2017
Is all that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream?
My favourite poem of all times
My favourite poem of all times
Read
December 14, 2018All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream..
كل ما نراه أو ما يتبدّى لنا
ما هو إلا حلم داخل حلم..
Is but a dream within a dream..
كل ما نراه أو ما يتبدّى لنا
ما هو إلا حلم داخل حلم..
July 21, 2021
Is all that we see or seem ?
But a dream within a dream ?
But a dream within a dream ?
December 3, 2021
Why not many people know about this?
January 3, 2022
One of his best poems to read or listen to a reading of.
It may be cliched of me to love Poe but his words are so beautiful.
It may be cliched of me to love Poe but his words are so beautiful.
October 27, 2020
Is our existence real or an illusion? A philosophical question many of us have asked ourselves from time to time with Poe asking it so poignantly through his poetic viewpoint. Edgar Allan Poe’s A Dream Within a Dream, published in 1849, explores the difference between the real and the imaginary. Is time really slipping through our fingers like grains of sand or is this all an illusion?
February 17, 2023
Beautiful
June 2, 2017
A Dream Within a Dream
BY 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?
Just like any other Edgar Poems (except Annabel lee - that is another level of writing ...and loved it), A dream within a dream really is one of my favorites.
This poem has so much life in it and at the same time none, how is that possible!!
BY 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?
Just like any other Edgar Poems (except Annabel lee - that is another level of writing ...and loved it), A dream within a dream really is one of my favorites.
This poem has so much life in it and at the same time none, how is that possible!!
Read
August 12, 2017"A Dream Within a Dream"
A poem by Edgar Allan Poe
First published in 1849.
The poem is 24 lines, divided into two stanzas.
"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?"
A Dream Within a Dream. Written by Edgar Allan Poe. Read by Henry Halloway.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz6ar...
A poem by Edgar Allan Poe
First published in 1849.
The poem is 24 lines, divided into two stanzas.
"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?"
A Dream Within a Dream. Written by Edgar Allan Poe. Read by Henry Halloway.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz6ar...
Read
April 5, 2014We have all had our moments of quiet contemplation when we have sounded off in our own minds about the enormous and compelling question –‘what exactly is life all about’. While to some of us, it is easy to not take this question too seriously and get on with the everydayness of our lives, others might not be able to afford such (intellectual and even spiritual, if you will) dereliction. If you are one of those who choose to soldier on to find an interpretation, you will be surprised to know that there is a method to the madness – to start with, if you are one for books, you could pick up a copy of The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe and launch yourself on a journey of self-cognizance.
More at: http://thelitroom.com/2014/03/31/a-dr...
More at: http://thelitroom.com/2014/03/31/a-dr...
August 29, 2020
A Dream Within a Dream
BY 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?
BY 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?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 145 reviews