The cure for melancholy, sadness, and nearly all ills …
… a leather-bound, gilt-edged, ribbon-marker copy. While not as beautiful or precious as the turn of the century Chandos Classics Poe book I gave to Mr Music as a wonderful gift, it still gives me delight to look at it, read it, and smell the leather. For those who think Poe is all about the macabre, oh how wrong you are. Poe can also be very romantic, and very funny. He has written some wonderful essays as well, which were included in the Chandos classics book (oh I wish I had that one), but sadly isn’t included in this one.
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?
And that is by Edgar Allan Poe himself.
Brief Encounter is on Fox Classics tomorrow night. Oh dear, the Mr Music friend-shaped hole will be felt then. It was just another one of those shared ‘things’.
I love your Poe edition!!! It is lovely.
I watched Brief Encounter the othre day. I have it on the TiVo and have not deleted it yet. I should. but I haven’t. Shouldn’t have watched it, but did.
oh well. That scene when they kiss on the platform is still one of my favorites.
S.
Yeah … this will be one of those “shouldn’t have watched it” ones for sure, and I already own it on dvd! But it’s one of those things … when a favourite movie comes on tv you watch it regardless of whether you own it or not.
Barnes & Noble told lies. It is NOT the complete tales. There are a few missing, and they only have one of his essays in there, so I’ve had to download the missing ones from the EAP Society of Baltimore site.
Oh, and the Grimm’s Fairy Tales edition is even MORE lovely, but it doesn’t have illustrations 🙁 Fairy tale books should have illustrations of some sort. Especially leather-bound gilt-edged ones!