Take this kiss upon the brow
And in parting from you now
Thus much let me avow
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night or in a day
And all that we see or seem,
Is but a dream within a dream
As I stand mid the roar
On a surf tormented shore
I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand
How they creep
Through my fingers to the deep
Oh God! Can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O god! Can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all, is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?
And all that we see or seem,
Is but a dream within a dream
As I stand mid the roar
On a surf tormented shore
I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand
How they creep
Through my fingers to the deep