Edgar Allan has long been my absolute favorite American writer – I think I fell in love with his work in late elementary school, perhaps early junior high. A tragic life, his works are drenched with his darkness, which intrigues me to understand his psyche. Somehow, at times, I feel a deep connection to that darkness.
My favorite Poe work has always been Annabel Lee, a poem about true love that was separated prematurely through death. However, of late, I find myself connecting most with this work, which I’ve included below, that you might enjoy as well..
His soul cried out…
A Dream Within a Dream
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?
