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?
What would you say Poe’s poetic style was? Meaning did he use rhythm, rhyme, rhyme scheme, figurative language, etc.
A very expressive and sad poem…I believe Poe was a very sad man who wanted the world to understand his inner-emotions. He probably became an alcoholic because he felt he can express himself better without having to deal with reality. I believe the effects of the alcohol was speaking to him that brought out his ways of thinking and feelings.
In the first stansa of this poem, Edger is expresing his sadness for a loved one who has gone away. The second stansa could be interpreted in many difrent ways. obviusly the waves and sand represent something, some people think the sand is his life, or his dreams, or maby his memories, but I think they are all of the people that were close to him. In Poe’s life he lost many members of his famly and his wife to an illness. He was also a drunk and was always looking for someone to love after his wife died. This would suport my conclusion about this poem.
I think that this is one of Poe’s best poems.
The poem i just read was a great poem i have read alot of poems from different poets but this one i really enjoyed it has alot of potential and its not like the others i have read.
I believe this poem is Poe coming to terms with his mortality. In the first two lines, Poe is saying farewell to life, his immortality. I disagree with the interpretation that Poe is saying goodbye to a lover. He is giving a kiss on the brow, not the lips or the cheek. It seems a more “general” farwell. Now, you could say this is for rhyming purposes (brow and now), but I like to think this was more purposeful. He goes on to say, “you are not wrong, who deem, that my days have been a dream.” It seems to me that he is talking not to just one person, but to everyone.
His days are dreams, because they do not exist anymore. The days past are gone and now only memories, or dreams. All his days pass into nonexistance, just like the larger “dream” of his life eventually will. Dreams within a dream. His previous hopes that this isn’t so, that he will always exist, that there is something more, is gone.
In the second stanza, nonexistance is given the form of the ocean, and his days are grains of sand, that he is powerless to stop from slipping away. I think here he wanted to give the impression and image of an hourglass. The waves of nonexistance are stealing his days, and will eventually take all of them.
Even though he has accepted the fact of his mortality in the first stanza, he still fights it in the second, pleading with God (if he exists) to save him, to let him know that his life will not pass into the “deep” of nothingness. He wants to believe and have hope again that his existance is not just a dream and has purpose, so instead of stating it like at the end of the first stanza, in desperation he asks it as a question in the second.
“Is all that we see or seem, but a dream within a dream?”
I’m from Chile and I’m studing for being an english teacher. I had to chose one of Poe’s poems for an activity and I think this one is really deep. may be you can imagine that Poe is talking about his wife or love (r), but the thing is Poe wants to make people think about what they have in order to enjoy it and make them realize about the importance of living every moment as the last one.
you rimed really good but you poem wasnt that good its not one of them poems you would read over and over aguien you can hardly understand it.
i think that he is simply trying to say that he has been living in a dream and not really doing what he wants to do or what seems right to him and now hes moving on
Poe accurately describes the feeling of leaving one’s
dearest friends and lovers, perhaps never to rejoin with them again. I have often wondered whether all of our dreams ‘grains of sand’ must ultimately leave us. As we get older and ‘wiser’ we leave behind the true wisdom of our youth, squandering love and truth for materialism. In middle age we look back and question ourselves harshly for making such
foolish decisions. Poe, ever the depressive, genius alcoholic, understood this to the depths of his soul as THE American poet.
His incessant questioning of himself, and his attempts to live and understand life in all of it’s aspects, ultimately led to his demise in a rainy gutter. To my mind this poem stands as a warning that we must
live our lives deeply and with passion. The sands sift and fall quickly never to be regained.
I wanted to provide an analysis…it is pretty sad that this poem is above an English teacher’s head. Although it could mean different things to each of us, the theme is consistent. In the first few lines he is obviously parting from someone(i would say a lover), he or the lover possibly offered words of comfort or bitterness(depends on how interpreted), that their relationship and memories have all been just a dream(or like a dream). All their memories have “flown away in a night” and in that case it all seems hopeless. In the next few line he is asking if the loss should be less if all of it was only a dream? The next few lines are easy, the surf tormented shore is his life, and the sand symbolizes precious memories that slip away, as he tries desperately to hold on to them, not letting life(the waves) pull them away. And he questions again(with a ray of hope because this time he poses it as a question and not a statement like in the first paragraph) whether its all really just a dream. Your feedback would be appreciated.
I absolutly love this poem! I have it posted on my wall! This poem discribes me in like so many different ways it is just unbelieveable!
This poem is REAL deep. I think that this poem reflects on the loss of his wife. And it really shows how deep it hurt him to think that he had to let go of the one that truly loved him. I really like this one.
I first read this poem when I was in my 30’s and was immediately affected by the sadness and loneliness of the writer. From the first verse ‘take this kiss upon the brow’ shows that he is leaving someone that he loves deeply. The relationship has broken up because he cannot hold onto it – like the sand it slipped through his fingers and he was but living in a dream, as we all are. It is profound and moving to say the least, a great piece of work and one I shall always remember.
When I read this poem, the first thing I got out of it was that when Edgar wrote it, he was saying that you live like your life is a dream. You don’t really live it like you are supposed too. I like the poem, don’t get me wrong. But you are supposed to live your life the way you want to. Live your life to the fullest.
I like this poem. It is truly deep. Poe lived a miserable life from his step parents to his fiance he never married. His life was so sad. I pity him, and I love his works, too. He is a great writer. ^_^
This Poem Is Just So BEAUTIFUL!!!!! And it seems so true when it says hcant save one froma wave.
you know this would be a great poem if i could read it but huh yea i cant so i guess ill talk to ya later or something
To here all of ur comments about saying “I love it” and for you trying to understand it is not being fair. To understand this poem completely one must understand Poe’s life. He lead one with mayn financial problems and maybe that is why his poem is about the mechanicalism of nature.
this is a great poem and a great man. i admire him so much