# A Dream, After Reading Dante’s Episode of “Paolo and Francesca” explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by John Keats.

## What happens

The speaker describes a dreamlike flight inspired by Hermes, moving from a tranquil, enchanted state into the second circle of Dante's hell, where lovers are swept in a storm. There, the speaker kisses pale lips and floats with a fair form amid the melancholy tempest.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Loss

The poem centers on the sorrow of lovers in hell, with pale lips and a melancholy storm evoking lost love.

### Mythology and Classical Reference

References to Hermes, Argus, Ida, Tempe, and Jove ground the dream in classical mythology.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker who dreams and recounts the journey to the second circle of hell.

### Hermes

Mentioned as the god who took to his feathers light and lulled Argus.

## Key lines

> As Hermes once rook to his feathers light, When lulled Argus, baffled, swoon’d and slept

Just as Hermes once took to his light feathers after putting Argus to sleep, the speaker's spirit similarly escapes.

_The speaker compares his own flight to Hermes' escape after lulling Argus._

> But to that second circle of sad hell, Where ’mid the gust, the whirlwind, and the flaw Of rain and hail-stones, lovers need not tell Their sorrows.

Instead of going to beautiful places, the speaker goes to the second circle of hell where lovers are tormented by storms and do not need to speak their grief.

_The destination is Dante's second circle, reserved for the lustful, where suffering is expressed through the storm._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/a-dream-after-reading-dante-s-episode-of-paolo-and-francesca
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_14_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters