A Dream Within A Dream - Edgar Allan Poe

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A Dream Within A Dream by Edgar Allan Poe

[Most scholars consider this poem an
early version of "A Dream Within
a Dream," which may explain why
the poem was never printed again
during Poe's lifetime.]

Tamerlane and Other Poems, 1827
Imitation
by Edgar Allan Poe

A dark unfathom'd tide
Of interminable pride —
A mystery, and a dream,
Should my early life seem;
I say that dream was fraught
With a wild, and waking thought
Of beings that have been,
Which my spirit hath not seen.
Had I let them pass me by,
With a dreaming eye!
Let none of earth inherit
That vision on [of] my spirit;
Those thoughts I would controul,
As a spell upon his soul:
For that bright hope at last
And that light time have past,
And my worldly rest hath gone
With a sight [sigh] as it pass'd on
I care not tho' it perish
With a thought I then did cherish.

-The End-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems, 1829
To — —
by Edgar Allan Poe

Should my early life seem,
[As well it might,] a dream —
Yet I build no faith upon
The king Napoleon —
I look not up afar
For my destiny in a star:

In parting from you now
Thus much I will avow —
There are beings, and have been
Whom my spirit had not seen
Had I let them pass me by
With a dreaming eye—
If my peace hath fled away
In a night — or in a day —
In a vision — or in none —
Is it therefore the less gone? —

I am standing 'mid the roar
Of a weather-beaten shore,
And I hold within my hand
Some particles of sand —
How few! and how they creep
Thro' my fingers to the deep!
My early hopes? no — they
Went gloriously away,
Like lightning from the sky
At once — and so will I.

So young? ah! no— not now—
Thou hast not seen my brow,
But they tell thee I am proud —
They lie — they lie aloud —
My bosom beats with shame
At the paltriness of name
With which they dare combine
A feeling such as mine —
Nor Stoic? I am not:
In the terror of my lot
I laugh to think how poor
That pleasure"to endure!""
What! shade of Zeno!— I!
Endure! — no — no — defy.

-The End-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

manuscript, early 1849
For Annie
by Edgar Allan Poe

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!
Oh, God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
Oh, God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that I see or seem
But a dream within a dream?.

-The End-

[A facsimile of this manuscript was printed in the Bookman (London), XXXV, January 1909, p. 190.]

[In the printed form of the poem, published in March of 1849 in the Flag of Our Union, Poe added nine lines to the beginning and changed the title to "A Dream Within a Dream." Curiously, a few months later, he also made plans to have it published in the Richmond Examiner as "To —," possibly for Elmira Shelton.] (notes from: http://www.eapoe.org/)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe, 1850
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?

-The End-