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?
- This poem highlights the transitory nature of life. Standing on the shore, Poe is looking back on his life and wondering if it has all been a dream. He realises that nothing lasts forever, everything is constantly changing. He cannot even hold onto a grain of sand before it is swept away to sea (possibly a symbol of nature ever changing - the grains of sand could symbolise his loved ones slipping away from him and going 'home'). I think this poem serves as a reminder to treasure what you have right here, right now in this moment.
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