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