Edgar Allen Poe is most often remembered for dark, haunting stories and poems. He is rarely remembered as a military veteran whose work was no doubt influenced by his time in service. Poe enlisted in the Army in 1827 and was discharged in 1829 at the rank of Regimental Sargent Major. He went on to continue his military career at West Point but was dismissed from the Academy in 1831 for failure to perform his duties. Most of his work was written after his time in the military and includes poetry, short stories, and magazine pieces across the genres of gothic horror, detective fiction, and science fiction.
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?
This poem is in the public domain.