Over the violets there that lie

In myriad types of the human eye-
Over the lilies there that wave

And weep above a nameless grave!

They wave-from out their fragrant tops Eternal dews come down in drops;

They weep-from off their delicate stems Perennial tears descend in gems.

A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM.

I.

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.

II.

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!

G

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?