Poem 16 — 100 Days of Poetry
About the Poem:
A Dream Within a Dream by Edgar Allan Poe is a contemplative and philosophical poem that explores the nature of reality and the fleeting passage of time. Poe uses vivid imagery, like grains of sand slipping through one’s fingers, to represent the transient nature of life and the existential questions that arise when we confront the illusory nature of our experiences.
Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) is renowned for his gothic tales and poetry, often delving into themes of mortality, dreams, and the unknown. A Dream Within a Dream is a profound reflection on how our perceptions of reality may be nothing more than illusions.
A Dream Within a Dream — 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?
My Reflections on the Poem:
A Dream Within a Dream is one of those poems that challenges our understanding of reality, leaving us to wonder whether everything we experience is an illusion. Recording this poem brought out the intensity of Poe’s existential questions, and I found myself reflecting on how quickly time slips away, just as the grains of sand slip through one’s fingers in the poem.
This post is part of my 100 Days of Poetry series, where I embarked on a journey to record and share 100 poems over 100 days in 2017. Although the series was interrupted, I’m delighted to continue sharing these timeless works with you.
