all that we see or seem
is but a dream within a dream

take this kiss upon the brow
and in parting from you now
this much let me avow
you are not wrong who deemed
that my days have been a dream
yet if hope has flown away
in a night, in a day, in a vision, or a memory
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 the surf tormented shore
and I hold within my hands
grains of 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