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?
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Comments
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Hello!!!!
From guest anonymous (contact)
I absolutely adore Edgar Allan Poe's approach to all of his poems, they are unambiguous works of art; the tale tell heart and a dream within a dream are absolutely sensational, superb, marvelous there are no limits to the words that describe them... BYEEEEEEEEE!!!!!! -
One of the best poems ever made!!!
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i really don't know how to explain , but my feelings for it is deep. that's all i can say about that.
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That is a truely amazing poem and will forever remain one of my main inspirations.
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The Old Man
From guest Lori (contact)
I have the vision of an old man standing at the edge of stormy beach with his hands full of sand and lifted towards the heavens. He is crying to God because his life has passed so quickly and he is now losing the few loved ones in his life. He has no way to keep them and himself from dying... Life is just way too short. We will all sit on our deathbeds and reflect on a life way too short... seemingly like a dream. -
amazing
From guest whitney (contact)
that peom is amazing i have never heard anythign such like it. I write my own poems and love doing it very much. I hope one day i end up as famous as i can get. whitney -
poetry meaning?
From guest Sarah Gilles (contact)
I don't know if this is right or wrong, but this seems like a poem about religion of sorts. So, he is dying.....the fact that he cannot tell if his life was real or a dream speaks volumes about his views on religion and consciousness. People who are religious know that they are going to heaven, it is faith. People who aren't usually relate death to being just black...nothing, empty. So, I think what he is saying is that he doesn't know if he is going to go to heaven when he dies because he hasn't been able to make a commitment to believe in God. The second verse of this poem is him putting himself in god's shoes. He is god and the grains of golden sand are people. As much as he tries to keep the people in the palms of his hands, they slip through, and it is so painful for him to see the people get 'washed away in the pitiless wave (hell?), but there is nothing that he can do. In this poem, Poe is questioning weather God will accept him into heaven even though he wasn't able to believe in him for his entire life. -
Thoughts
From guest spike (contact)
The core sentiment of the poem provides quite a contrast to the one expressed in "A Psalm of Life" by HWLongfellow "tell me not in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream ".. I wonder which of the these prespectives is closer to the truth... -
my meaning
From guest jarrah (contact)
The poem was written in the final year of Edgar Allen Poe’s life and has a feel of frustration. He begins the poem with ‘Take this kiss upon the brow! And, in parting from you now,’ this seems to suggest a farewell. Then he goes on to say ‘This much let me avow- You are not wrong, who deem that my days have been a dream’ Here he is talking to himself in realisation, basically saying that the truth is, his days have been a dream. This is in relation to the fact that he is old and dying soon, he is possibly having regrets about his life. In the next four lines Poe says ‘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!’ here he is saying basically that hope is gone because he is dying, but is it anymore gone than before!?!? The next stanza begins by saying ‘All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream’ This is saying that life is a dream and inside of it is all the stuff like hope and that is another dream inside of it. The next line he uses the metaphor of a beach, saying that his life is like the waves on the surf-tormented shore, life is tormenting him without peace. Next Poe uses a sort of simile, comparing the metaphoric dream of life to a single grain of sand. And his hand can be seen as like an hourglass when he says ‘How few! Yet how they creep through my fingers to the deep,’ he is saying how short life is and how it slips through your fingers so quickly. Next he is weeping and pleading with god saying ‘O god! Can I not grasp then with a tighter grasp?’ If you think about the hourglass metaphor again, he is asking for more time and wanting to tighten his grasp, so the grains will slip through more slowly, tightening his grasp on life. The last lines of the poem say ‘Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream?’ this is almost the same as the first two lines of the second stanza, but instead of stating life as a dream within a dream, he poses it as a question which gives a feel of hope to the ending, it asks is life really just a dream but also poses the thoughts that there MUST be a meaning to life. He is looking back on his life and looking for meaning inside of it but it seems like a dream. He is facing death but after reflecting on his life wishes he only had more time. -
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From guest spaz (contact)
i love the first line cuz it reminds me of a poem i wrote about how my first real kiss would fill. -
Edgar Allan Poe is truly the BEST poet ever.
"Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?"
The best line in the poem. A profound question, unanswerable but wanting of an answer. -
Homework assignment
From guest Anna Banana Bread Dough (contact)
I chose this poem, for my homework assignment. We had to choose a poem and write what it's about. I can't figure out what this poem is about, but it's very deep, and i don't' want to choose another. I was thinking of Shel Silverstein at first, but than i saw this poem. And i love it, without understanding it. -
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ummmmm...
From guest morgan pierce (contact)
wow i love this one its so real i thought of this severl times before -
Edgar :)
From guest Ashley (contact)
I'm not an avid reader of Poe, but had this quote left on my dry-erase board by a man moving our home supplies from old house to new house. It struck me how beautiful and fluent he can be. The beats that he puts in the syllables in each line are very interesting; the poem flows in a very unique way. Chuang Tzu...speaking of him...does anyone know a little more about him? I am really very interested in his "butterfly" poem. -
He searched deep in to his soul
From guest Elizabeth (contact)
I love the way he expressed his loss of love in that if its a dream. He was an amazing man with great imagination of life and death. (Lisa) -
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Chuang Tzu
From guest Karen (contact)
This reminds me of another poem: Once upon a time, I, Chuang Tzu, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes, a butterfly. I was conscious only of following my fancies as a butterfly, and was unconscious of my individuality as a man. Suddenly, I awoke, and there I lay, myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man. -
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From guest Ryan Smith (contact)
I can see how this poem realates to Poe's life. The loss of a loved one, a sad death. -
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?
that's what I call creative
Is it what we in a dream in a dream
all my life poe I havenot known
what love could be where my eyes couldn't see
that I was living in a dream
within a dream
That I wait for death
So I don't die yet
that I know this life
is nothing but a dream to me -
Dreams
From guest Amicus (contact)
some people believe that this world is a dream and if you wake up from this dream it is just as if you die .... is not perseption of reallity all there is -
Sometimes
From guest Andrea (contact)
Sometimes it would seem that life is a dream within a dream and other times..Its just a dream lost in the real world. Life has its ups but it has more downs. Poe speaks the truth! In most all of his poems and stories too... -
Best Poem ever written?
From guest Tracey (contact)
I have to say this poem is absolutely breathtaking!! I can envision what Poe must have seen to inspire him to write this poem. I feel this is the BEST poem ever written, period!! I also live my life by this poems title, life is too strange to have answers!! -
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Yes definitly
And I am not saying this because of my utmost liking to Poe's writings, no.
Because it's true, life is far more complicated than a make-up put infront of a mirror.
Be well,
RD.
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POEM
From guest Leslie (contact)
Edgar Allen Poe's amazingly brillant mind has captivated the world!!! I wish he was alive to write more poetry :D -
From guest Jezebel (contact)
Knowing who Edgar Allan Poe was I know he led a tragic life full of death. He was often depressed and in life was an alcoholic. I believe at this time he was trying to hold on to his beloved Annie who was his cousin that he married. He was truely in love with her. She ended up dying from the "red death" or tuberculosis. This poem is about how he is doing everything in his power to save her. Yet at the same time he doesn't want to believe that what was happening to him was real. As time went on for him things only got worse. Then Annie died. There is a little back story on it and what it meant. -
Hmm... well, this poem to me doesn't seem giddy, per se, and it seems he is struggling with a Zen attitude. In the first stanza he is unworried that hope has flown away, but in an almost manic way. Then in the second stanza he is truly despairing and certainly has not been able to separate himself from life. I heard someone say of this poem that life is like a dream because you watch it and can do nothing to change it, forces above us work it all out no matter what we do.
The first few lines baffle me a bit, though. Why a triplet there when the rest of the lines are couplets? It seems almost clumsy, yet Poe is never clumsy.
So if anyone can enlighten me, go for it :-)
I also should say that I definitely agree with the infinite wisdom of those two lines "All that we see or seem/ But a dream within a dream?" -
It's a giddy poem
I love this poem as I have often wondered whether I am dreaming or whether things are real and I heartily agree with Edgar Allan Poe. It's as if we can rise above the occasion and take on a type of Zen attitude without feeling superior, just by looking, seeing, understanding and being humble. Does anyone else feel this too? Iana -
An incredible poem but Edgar Allan Poe! Always a fan of his work
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Classic
This is not one of my favorites by Poe (I have a ton of favorites written by him) having said that I do not dislike this poem at all--in fact his classic line "Is all that we see or seem, but a dream within a dream?" has stuck with me for 50 years!! -
this is one of my favorite poems, i absoultely love it
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This is one of my favorite poems. Gotta love Poe. lol.
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Awesome
Another one of his great works. I did a report on him and i found out how brillian he was -
i think this poem is beautiful
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wow
edgar allan poe is so inspirational in how he looks at things man he is the meaning of a beast!!!! -
God i love Poe. another great example of his dark emotional poems
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i think poe is a great poet his poems are so cool
i like this one it makes you think II) -
i agree 100%
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One of the greatest poems and poets of all time!!!! :
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Truly one of Poe's greatest works. The last two lines just sink in, grab hold of you, and don't let go. Truely a masterpiece!!!
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He is sooo interesting!
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I always have taken an interest in Poe's work. I didnt always understand why, this is the second poem i read from him and this poem... I'm speechless. I see him in me... he has my birthday. That is so awesome!! =)
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This is probably one of my top 3 favorite poems by Poe. This is just such an inspiring piece. I love it.
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i love poe. my all time favorite poem of his is AnnaBell Lee. I think this poem is amazing as well!
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What a lovely tortured man. He writes so profoundly. Wonderful as always- Harper
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poe is my favoritwe above all else i cannect to him in a way much deeper than words we can know each other through our poetry he is my number one insperation in life his poetry keeps me alive
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very nice poem! it one of my favorits.
good choice -
This is the poem that inspired me to take my thoughts deaper than I used to. This is the poem that has truely become one of my favorites in such a short amount of time. Edgar Allen Poe, may have been one of the creepiest writers in history, but he was definatly one of the most talent to ever exist.
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This is my all time favorite poem. And this piece is one of my favorite pieces as well.
Hugs, Lady Raven -
This is such a beautiful, enigmatic poem of Poe's. I like the darkness and almost philosophical nature of this poem as well as the rhyme
All the best,
Pozo
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this is the first poem of Poe's I have read, it is now my fave poem!
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This is my favorite poem...ever. I believe this is the one I have on my author page where it asks. Goodness, Poe is awesome. I do rather like Annabell Lee as well.
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this poem was great it mad tears come to my eyes i can relate to it on so many levels i lone poe
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I love Poe also, he was my relative. My great grandmother was a Poe. I have written The Return of Poe, Patti Lou, and The Breath Of Hell. Read them and see if they remind you of any poetry or story by Poe. I am not comparing myself or my writings to the master Edgar Allan Poe.
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This is my favorite of all poems, and, naturally, my favorite of all the Poe works. It explains so easily every emotions slipping through your fingertips in an instant...mostly love, anger, jelously, hate, sadness, deppression, hurt, kindness...and the horrible, smooth, but often abrupt, passage of time. The contradictories are barely noticeable, but there if you wish to look.
Tiffany -
I must have done something crazy because Poe is much older than me. I wrote a poem years ago using the line of what I thought was mine "A Dream Withen A Dream " something, somewhere or someone I must have read or did he visit me one day and stay? For just a bit?
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Yeah I too love this poem. I also love how he puts you into the poem,...thats how some of mine are. Well most of mine. Poe is my favorite poet and I love his work. HE IS AN AMAZING MAN!
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This poem is one of my favorite and I can see myself in this poem and I am trying to learn from Edgar Allan Poe. I think that Poe has a sense of individualism which I hope to accomplish.
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This is one my favorite poems. Edgar Allen Poe is one of the masters when it comes to the dark side of individualism. There will never be another like him in the world.
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I love this poem! It's almost a pain to read out loud... the rhythm is interesting on some of the lines. And yet I read it over and over again... I guess its just enchanting... the words and the concept. A dream within a dream... its profound.
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I so wish I could write like this Poe is my fav by far He is brilliant I am going to have to book mark this I love the Sleeper more than any poem but this is certainly a very close second!
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i just love poe's poems so much, and this one is brilliant... especially last two lines who are just so... don't know, amazing!
*iva* -
I absolutely love this poem, and Poe is officially my favorite poem of all time, but I like The Raven better.
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felt this on many different levels... and honestly isnt that all life is? a deam within a dream? but it is poe and poe is everything in life!!!
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I came across this long forgotten poem from my childhood after reading Sophocles OEDIPUS THE KING. What struck me was how it appears Poe was able to capture the structure of greek tragedy within 24 lines. The depth of this poem, to me, matches the crushing tragedy of Oedipus. In particular the closing lines of the Chorus: Dwellers in our native Thebes, behold, this is Oedipus, who knew the famed riddle, and was a man most mighty; on whose fortunes what citizen did not gaze with envy? Behold iinto what a stormy sea of dread trouble he hath come! Therefore, while our eyes wait to see the destined final day, we must call no one happy who is of mortal race, until he hath crossed life's border, free from pain. (Sophocles st. 1678-16840).
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omg i think this poem explains everybody's life. I think Poe hit right on the dot. after reading it i didnt understand until i took it line by line and most of us today can relate to losing someone you love dearly.
Love,
Poe's #1 Fan -
Oh my gracious! I had long forgotten about this poem. What a real pleasure to find it here. I have always loved this one by Edgar Allan Poe. I actually think it's one of his more exquisite writings.
♥ Kimberly -
There's such desperation as if he needs to come to terms with his life the way it is and hopes it's not what it seems...I love it! It will work wonders for my poem...Thanks Poe!
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My paraphrase of "A Dream Within A Dream" (this is just what i got from it.
Take this sweet image if you will
Though I must leave you now
I must confess
You are correct if you think
My life is a dream
If hope diminishes while asleep or awake
Is it really gone, or was it ever there
All that we see and perceive
Is a misconception within a world of illusion
I am surrounded by hatred and corruption
Of this vile world
Yet I embrace the remnants
Of hope and love
Though these remains maybe small
I am not able to catch them when they fall
I cry and continue to weep
Maybe I will awake to catch them
From my sleep
Nothing can save them from the cruelties of reality
Where everything must succumb its integrity
Is all that we see and perceive
But an misconception within a world of illusion
This is just what i got from it. I hope it helps you guys better see the poem.
_James Robert Meyerhoffer
Is it really gone, or was -
out of all the poems by poe i've read, this is my favorite. it shows so much emotion.. im in awe. he was absolutely brilliant and his spirit deffinatly still lives on within us all. Truly amazing
~Rose~ -
Mr. Poe? Can I just say that you amaze me with your wonderful descriptive writting, I know you're dead, but your spirit lives on...in your poems and all your short stories, wonderful man, wonderful writer!
Purplerose
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i love Edgar Allan Poe... this is the first time i have read this poem, but i love it.
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Poe has written many classical poems but this one is no doubt his best poem...this is about worldly life and its nothingness...and the concept of being and nothingness is beautifully portrayed in very few words. This is one of my favorite poems. . It’s more that beauty
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What a brilliant poem - deeply felt on both the emotional and spiritual planes...
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I love poe's work always did he was teh first poet i read back in grade 3 and have been a devoted fan every since. all his works are powerful and moving.
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the first Matrix, I love this poem.
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I really love reading Poe. I grew up reading him, and I will never get tired of his work. This is such a beautiful poem. This painted a beautiful but yet sad picture in my head..and my heart...
Tammy
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"Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream? "
This is a magnificent poem...such a beautiful thought....the philosophy of the worldly life....if one can realize....excellent rhyme! -
This poem is very deep and passionate. I like the way that Poe asks the reader a question at the end of the piece, a philosophical question which makes you wonder. I like this poem.
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I absolutely LOVED this poem...it was so..beautiful..I love Edgar Allan Poe, I love his poetry and his stories..he's just...amazing..and this poem is incredible...
~Michelle* -
Stunning poetry Mr. Poe...love it ..perplexing and life does seem that way.. , Olivia
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This poem makes me think quite a bit about life. There have been several debates between my freinds and I in waffle houses(back when I lived in GA) about life. I think it was started by a guy who saw the matrix,and then he rbought it up. I tend to think it may not be quite that advanced,but in the end,what if everything is a dream within a dream? Sometimes I wish I could wake up.
But theres several metaphors in this,or at least ones I assume. My question that I asked myseld every day a long time ago. Could I not save one person from fear or hatred,even if the world is working against me? Thats one of them that I assume,and thats part of the reason this poem is so special to me. -
I love Edgar Allan Poes poetry especially this one. Its one that makes me contimplate. How are we to know that each day we live is not actually reality but really a dream? And then there are times that I do wish that what has gone on in my life were actually a dream and that I would wake up from it but that never quite happens. But yes this is one of my favorite pieces written by Poe!!
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one of my favorite pieces by my favorite poet... poe was a genius at questioning the bounds of reality... and then pushing them...
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“ Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?”
This is the question not yet answered satisfactorily by anyone____ well I suppose the right answer is Yes!!!! It is !
This is one of my favorite poem___ reminds me the golden moments of my past____ past is always golden___ I believe!
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this is my fav poem by edgar allen poe hehehehe where did u get the idea to go through and post his poems like this? it a way cool idea hes my fav poet well him and emily dickenson but dude this is way cool though lol but yeah it is so yeah
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this is another of my favourites, i wrote something years ago inspired by this poem.
Oh dream, faint scene
in shadowy form,
I ask you wake me
from this life,
I scream this dream
to my fair queen;
she that soothes
my thought of strife.
I am a dream within a dream
who dreams of dreaming dreams
in the mind of my true wife.
Oh scene, faint dream
I’ve seen you lean
towards me with your knife.
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I love Poes work I even like his stories. You just can't go wrong with his poems.
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I love this piece - especially the second stanza. You can take it many ways(I found the first comment on this poem, by Mary, very interesting to read). Its quite open for interpretation, I love how its written, and it leaves me thinking...reasons why this is one of my favorite poems. Interesting thoughts. I don't know, I'm trying to figure out why I think its so special, but I guess its just that E.A. Poe charm.
A/E/S -
What kind of poem is A dream within a dream.. by edgar allan poe?
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I have to say this is my second favorite poem by Edgar Allan Poe, and I love it soo much because it is beautiful, the way it flows, and rhymes. I also feel that life is but a dream, something we can never take back, because when we dream, they never are the same, but only similar. No one can have your life, but they can lead similar lives.
Meg -
This poem is really special to me. It amazes me more each time i read it.
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A dream within a dream... now I remember something someone asked me once, and I never did understand why he asked it either... but it was "how do you know that you are not a butterfly dreams that you are human?"
I guess what I mean is that, sometimes, it is very unclear if life itself is nothing but a dream and not reality at all...~genielassie~ -
beautiful
O! what a realistic approach .too tragic , romantic, and mystic. this is one of my favorite poems.
Edited on Jan 03, 6:58 p.m. because ''. -
5 stars
tis kool. -
Awesome!!
I love this poem. You can't just read a couple of lines, once you start you have to finish it. But yet when it's done, you don't want it to be. Plus it really makes you think. I love it!!! -
shore, shore, shore...Poe uses the 'ore' sound exellently in most of his poems...perhaps because of the echoing quality of the sound.
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