← All chapters
Leaves of Grass · Chapter
I Dream’d in a Dream explained
The narrator dreams of an invincible city of friends, where robust love is the guiding quality in all actions, looks, and words.
What happens
The narrator dreams of an invincible city of friends, where robust love is the guiding quality in all actions, looks, and words.
Themes in this chapter
Comradeship and Love
The dream city is defined by robust love as its highest quality.
Characters to notice
- Narrator
The dreamer who envisions the city of friends.
Key passages
“I dream’d in a dream I saw a city invincible to the attacks of the whole of the rest of the earth, I dream’d that was the new city of Friends, Nothing was greater there than the quality of robust love, it led the rest, It was seen every hour in the actions of the men of that city, And in all their looks and words.”
In a dream, I saw a city that could not be conquered by any force on earth; it was a city of friends, where the most important thing was a strong, genuine love that guided everything, visible in every action, glance, and word of its people.
The vision of an ideal community founded on love.