A poem awaiting its translation
English ↔ Mvskoke
A Dream Within a Dream · A Creek language study edition
The Mvskoke lines below are a rough, dictionary-based approximation — a fluent, speaker-reviewed translation is still wanted.
Mvskoke is the language of the Muscogee (Creek) and Seminole peoples, carried west to Indian Territory in the Removals of the 1830s and spoken today mainly in Oklahoma and Florida. This edition sets Poe's poem beside the language and waits for a speaker's translation. Meanwhile it teaches the alphabet, the sounds and the grammar, and finds every word of the poem it can in published dictionaries.
Part one / The poem
The poem, line by line
Each line waits for a speaker's translation. Under each line are the words a published source already gives, so a reader can see which parts of Poe's vocabulary have a match. Select a numbered line for its study note.
| Line | English · source | Mvskoke · translation |
|---|---|---|
| Take this kiss upon the brow! | Yv vpohetv ekv-homv oh. | |
| And, in parting from you now, | Cem afvcketv em yvmv. | |
| Thus much let me avow — | Yv mowis okis. | |
| You are not wrong, who deem | Cē monēkot. | |
| That my days have been a dream; | Cē pussvl'kv nett-v hakēs. | |
| Yet if hope has flown away | Hesaketv ocat. | |
| In a night, or in a day, | Yafke ocat, nettv ocat mon. | |
| In a vision, or in none, | Heckv ocat, ocat mon. | |
| Is it therefore the less gone? | Mowis monēkot tē? | |
| All that we see or seem | Nak omvlkv heckv ocat. | |
| Is but a dream within a dream. | Pussvl'kv em pussvl'kv os. | |
| I stand amid the roar | Meloh'letv em aliket. | |
| Of a surf-tormented shore, | Ote em aliket. | |
| And I hold within my hand | En'ke em holdet. | |
| Grains of the golden sand — | Oktahv nak-vcake. | |
| How few! yet how they creep | Cutkē mon. | |
| Through my fingers to the deep, | En'ke-wesakv em lauke mon. | |
| While I weep — while I weep! | Hvkih'ketv, hvkih'ketv! | |
| O God! Can I not grasp | Hesaketvmese! Vhecicetv monēkot tē? | |
| Them with a tighter clasp? | Vhecicetv monēkot tē? | |
| O God! can I not save | Hesaketvmese! Vcayecetv monēkot tē? | |
| One from the pitiless wave? | Meloh'letv em monēkot tē? | |
| Is all that we see or seem | Nak omvlkv heckv ocat. | |
| But a dream within a dream? | Pussvl'kv em pussvl'kv os tē? |
Part two / Learn the language
Meet Mvskoke.
How it is written, how it sounds, how its sentences work, and where it has been.
The traditional alphabet: 20 letters
It looks like English letters, but several have their own sounds. The letters c, e, i, r and v catch English readers out most often.
| Letter | Sound | Like |
|---|---|---|
| a | /aː ~ a/ | the a in father |
| c | /tʃ ~ ts/ | the ch in such, or the ts in cats |
| e | /ɪ/ | the i in hit |
| ē | /iː/ | the ee in seed |
| f | /f/ | f |
| h | /h/ | h |
| i | /ɛj ~ ɛː/ | the ay in day |
| k | /k/ | the k in skim |
| l | /l/ | l |
| m | /m/ | m |
| n | /n/ | n |
| o | /oː ~ ʊ ~ o/ | the o in bone, or the oo in book |
| p | /p/ | the p in spot |
| r | /ɬ/ | no English sound: blow air around the sides of the tongue while saying l, like Welsh ll. English spellings write it hl or thl |
| s | /s/ | the s in spot |
| t | /t/ | the t in stop |
| u | /ʊ ~ o/ | the oo in book, or the oa in boat |
| v | /ə ~ a/ | the a in about |
| w | /w/ | w |
| y | /j/ | the y in yet |
Three vowel pairs are written as they sound: eu, ue and vo. Spelling marks vowel length only loosely: v and a, e and ē, u and o are short and long partners, though not in every word. Between vowels and the sounds m, n, l, w and y, the letters p, t, c, k and s soften to b, d, j, g and z.
Three tones
Every Mvskoke word carries pitch: high, low or falling. Everyday spelling leaves tone unmarked; dictionaries mark high with an acute (á) and falling with a circumflex (â).
Nasal vowels
Vowels can be nasal as well as plain. Linguists mark them with a hook under the letter (ą), and some words differ by nasality alone.
The letter r
Mvskoke r is a voiceless l, made by blowing air around the sides of the tongue. English spellings of Creek names write it hl or thl.
How sentences work
The verb comes last
Mvskoke puts subject, then object, then verb.
- ifá-t pó:si lást-i:-n á:ssi:c-ísThe dog is chasing the black cat (dog-SUBJECT cat black-OBJECT chases)
Endings mark who does what
A subject can take -t and other nouns -n, though speakers drop them when the meaning is clear.
- ifá-tdog (as subject)
- lást-i:-nblack (as object)
Two kinds of “my”
Family and body words take one set of prefixes; everything else takes another.
- ca-pósimy grandmother
- am-ífamy dog
- po-pósiour grandmother
- pom-ífaour dog
The person lives in the verb
“I”, “me” and “to me” are parts of the verb, not separate words.
- hompisI am eating
- cvhēceshe/she/it sees me
- vm opunayeshe/she is talking to me
Tense by ending
The verb nesetv, to buy, shows how finely Mvskoke divides the past.
- nēsesbuys
- nehsesbought today
- nēsvnksbought recently
- nesvrēswill buy
One, two or many
Some verbs change completely with the number of people. Poe's “I stand” would use the first.
- hueretvto stand (one)
- sehoketvto stand (two)
- svpakletvto stand (three or more)
Everyday words
A short history
- 1830s
The United States forces most Muscogee and Seminole people west to Indian Territory.
- 1853
Interpreters and chiefs adopt the 20-letter traditional alphabet as the “National Alphabet”.
- 1890
Loughridge and Hodge publish the English and Muskokee Dictionary, the oldest source on this page.
- 2000
Jack B. Martin and Margaret McKane Mauldin (Muscogee) publish A Dictionary of Creek/Muskogee.
- 2004
The College of the Muscogee Nation is founded; it now offers a Mvskoke Language Studies certificate.
- 2022
The first Mvskoke Language Symposium is held.
- 2023
The Martin & Mauldin dictionary goes online, and the college starts a full-time master-apprentice program.
Practice with every word
Every word of the poem
All 85 different words in Poe's poem, in the order they first appear. Each card shows the Creek form a published source gives, a note on how the language handles the word, or an honest blank where no source has it yet.
Which words
68 of 85 words have a published Creek form here, and 5 more have a grammar note. The rest are open for a speaker to fill in.
- Read the English word and try to recall the Creek form.
- Reveal it and say it slowly, letter by letter, using the alphabet above.
- Find the word in the poem and look at its line's study note.
- Ask a speaker or the language program about the words still open.
See the full word list (85 words)
| Take | Essetv; Căwetv | to take · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| this | Not yet in our sources. | |
| kiss | Vfv'nketv | to kiss · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| upon | Onv'pv | upon · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| the | Mvskoke has no word for “the” or “a”. A noun stands alone; endings like -t (subject) and -n (other nouns) show its role instead. | |
| brow | Wénhv | brows · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| And | Not yet in our sources. | |
| in | Not yet in our sources. | |
| parting | Ténkvpv'ket | parting · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| from | Erv'ttetv; Kvpv'ké; Atat | from · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| you | Ce | you, thou · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| now | Hv'té; Hiyómat | now · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| Thus | Hiyómen | thus · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| much | Suléce; Vnv'comé | much · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| let | Em-akvsv'metv | to let · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| me | Vn'en; Vm | me · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| avow | Eme-wik'etv | to avow · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| are | Sasetv; Ometv | to be · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| not | Kust; Hekúst | not · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| wrong | Mvt'té | wrong · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| who | Estimvt? | who? · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| deem | Not yet in our sources. | |
| That | Not found as a headword in the 1890 dictionary pages read for this edition. | |
| my | cv-, am- | my (two sets of prefixes: cv- for family and body words, am- for other things) · Wikipedia, Muscogee language |
| days | Nettv | day · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| have | O'cetv | to have · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| been | Sasetv; Ometv | to be · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| a | Mvskoke has no word for “a” or “the”. A noun stands alone; endings like -t (subject) and -n (other nouns) show its role instead. | |
| dream | Apueckv; Pusvlkv | dream · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| Yet | Hvté; Emunkv | yet; always, yet · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| if | Nómat | if · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| hope | En-néné-hécetv | to hope · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| has | O'cetv | to have · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| flown | Wähetv; Sümketv | to fly · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| away | Vsvn; Ye | away · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| night | Neré | night · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| or | Not yet in our sources. | |
| day | Nettv | day · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| vision | Eshéckv | a vision · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| none | Sépeko; Seks | none · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| Is | Sasetv; Ometv | to be · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| it | There is usually no separate word for “it”. The third person is the bare verb, with no person marker. | |
| therefore | Münkv | therefore · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| less | Nv'comé; Sencútke | less · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| gone | Ahóyetv | to go · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| All | Omvlkv | all · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| we | Pumé; Pu- | we · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| see | Hécetv | to see, to look for · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| seem | Mómé-ónt | seem · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| but | Not yet in our sources. | |
| within | Epiketv | to be within · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| I | V'ne | I · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| stand | Hueretv; Sehoketv | to stand (one person; two people) · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| amid | Vpáket | amidst · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| roar | Ténétketv | to roar (of thunder) · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| Of | Not yet in our sources. | |
| surf-tormented | Not yet in our sources. | |
| shore | Asénkv; Afop'ke | coast, shore · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| hold | Hvlv'tetv; Wyókcetv | to hold · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| hand | En'ké | hand · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| Grains | Nérkv; Tv'le | grain · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| golden | Cvto-kunv'p-láné | gold · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| sand | Oktāhv | sand · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| How | Estómet? | how? · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| few | Nvcómvsé | few · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| they | “They” usually lives in the verb: the agent ending -ak marks a plural third person. | |
| creep | Vyökpetv; Hólketv | to creep · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| Through | Eteropótte; Rvpótté | through · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| fingers | Enkè-wesákv | the finger · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| to | Not yet in our sources. | |
| deep | Laukë; Süfke | deep · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| While | Mómof | while · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| weep | Hvkih'ketv | to weep, to cry · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| O | Not yet in our sources. | |
| God | Hésáketvmese; Cehowv | God · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| Can | Not yet in our sources. | |
| grasp | Hvlátetv; Ayvkhv'mketv | to grasp · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| Them | Ma; Mv; Em; E | them · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| with | Vpvketv | to be with · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| tighter | Yvnv'fkā; Yekcé | tight · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| clasp | Not yet in our sources. | |
| save | Vcáyécetv; Hesāyetv | to save · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| One | hvmken | one · Wikipedia, Muscogee language |
| pitiless | E-merretv | to pity, to forgive · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
| wave | Ue-mêloh'lv | waves · Loughridge & Hodge, English and Muskokee Dictionary (1890) |
Words marked 1890 come from Loughridge & Hodge's English and Muskokee Dictionary, read from a scan of the printed book. Spellings are as printed in 1890, including its accent marks, and have not been modernized; check them against the page image and Martin & Mauldin before teaching from them.
Add your voice
Translate the poem into Mvskoke.
This edition is waiting for a translation by a Creek speaker or the language program, and for a reading in the speaker's own voice. Translations are reviewed for accuracy and permissions, and the translator's credit is kept.