Oh! that my young life were a lasting dream! <br /> My spirit not awakening, till the beam <br /> Of an Eternity should bring the morrow. <br /> Yes! tho' that long dream were of hopeless sorrow, <br /> 'Twere better than the cold reality <br /> Of waking life, to him whose heart must be, <br /> And hath been still, upon the lovely earth, <br /> A chaos of deep passion, from his birth. <br /> But should it be- that dream eternally <br /> Continuing- as dreams have been to me <br /> In my young boyhood- should it thus be given, <br /> 'Twere folly still to hope for higher Heaven. <br /> For I have revell'd, when the sun was bright <br /> I' the summer sky, in dreams of living light <br /> And loveliness,- have left my very heart <br /> In climes of my imagining, apart <br /> From mine own home, with beings that have been <br /> Of mine own thought- what more could I have seen? <br /> 'Twas once- and only once- and the wild hour <br /> From my remembrance shall not pass- some power <br /> Or spell had bound me- 'twas the chilly wind <br /> Came o'er me in the night, and left behind <br /> Its image on my spirit- or the moon <br /> Shone on my slumbers in her lofty noon <br /> Too coldly- or the stars- howe'er it was <br /> That dream was as that night-wind- let it pass. <br /> <br /> I have been happy, tho' in a dream. <br /> I have been happy- and I love the theme: <br /> Dreams! in their vivid coloring of life, <br /> As in that fleeting, shadowy, misty strife <br /> Of semblance with reality, which brings <br /> To the delirious eye, more lovely things <br /> Of Paradise and Love- and all our own! <br /> Than young Hope in his sunniest hour hath known.<br /><br />Edgar Allan Poe<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/dreams-3/
