Analysis of Dreams
Henry Timrod 1828 (Charleston) – 1867 (Columbia)
Who first said "false as dreams?" Not one who saw
Into the wild and wondrous world they sway;
No thinker who hath read their mystic law;
No Poet who hath weaved them in his lay.
Else had he known that through the human breast
Cross and recross a thousand fleeting gleams,
That, passed unnoticed in the day's unrest,
Come out at night, like stars, in shining dreams;
That minds too busy or to dull to mark
The dim suggestions of the noisier hours,
By dreams in the deep silence of the dark,
Are roused at midnight with their folded powers.
Like that old fount beneath Dodona's oaks,
That, dry and voiceless in the garish noon,
When the calm night arose with modest looks,
Caught with full wave the sparkle of the moon.
If, now and then, a ghastly shape glide in,
And fright us with its horrid gloom or glee,
It is the ghost of some forgotten sin
We failed to exorcise on bended knee.
And that sweet face which only yesternight
Came to thy solace, dreamer (did'st thou read
The blessing in its eyes of tearful light?)
Was but the spirit of some gentle deed.
Each has its lesson; for our dreams in sooth,
Come they in shape of demons, gods, or elves,
Are allegories with deep hearts of truth
That tell us solemn secrets of ourselves.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF XGXG HIHI CXXX JKJK |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 1111111111 0101010111 1101111101 1101111011 1111110101 1001010101 1101000101 1111110101 1111011111 010101010010 1100110101 1111111010 11110111 1101000101 1011011101 1111010101 1101010110 0111110111 1101110101 11111101 01111101 11110101111 0100111101 1101011101 11110110101 1101110111 110011111 11110101001 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,261 |
Words | 232 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 138 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 33 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:10 min read
- 63 Views
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"Dreams" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18226/dreams>.
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