A Dream within a Dream.

Take this kiss upon the brow! And in parting from you now, Thus must 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 ! Oh, God ! can I not grasp Them with a tighter clasp ! Oh, God ! can I not save One from the pitiless wave ! Is all that we see or seem But a dream within a dream !