Two Songs of Poe is based on two poems by Edgar Allan Poe: Bridal Ballad and A Dream within a Dream. Dream Within a Dream was written in 1849. In the poem, the speaker questions our perception of the world and uses the analogy of a “surf-tormented shore” to describe how the passage of time eventually destroys all things we consider important. The speaker also laments the futility of attempting to battle the passage of time and saving those that one considers important. Defeated, the question is posed, “is all that we see or seem, but a dream within a dream?”

In each movement, though the music follows the drama of the text, the rhythms and phrase lengths intentionally go against the rhythmic structure presented by the text. This is done to represent the deteriorating mental stability of the speaker and her detachment from reality. 


Bridal Ballad:

The ring is on my hand, 
And the wreath is on my brow;
Satins and jewels grand
Are all at my command,
And I am happy now.

And my lord he loves me well;
But when first he breathed his vow
I felt my bosom swell--
For the words rang as a knell,
And the voice seemed his who fell
In the battle down the dell,
And who is happy now.

But he spoke to reassure me,
And he kissed my pallid brow,
Wile a revery came o'er me,
And to the church-yard bore me,
And I sighed to him before me,
Thinking him dead D'Elormie,
"Oh, I am happy now!"

And thus the words were spoken,
And this the plighted vow,
And though my faith be broken,
And though my heart be broken,
Behold the golden token
That proves me happy now!

Would God I could awaken!
For I dream I know not how,
And my soul is sorely shaken
Lest an evil step be taken,--
Lest the dead who is forsaken
May not be happy now.


Two Songs of Poe, I. Bridal Ballad

Bradley S. Green