Poetry · Chapter
A Dream explained
The narrator dreams of walking with an old friend over familiar fields, only to encounter a strange, bright stream bursting from a mountain's heart.
What happens
The narrator dreams of walking with an old friend over familiar fields, only to encounter a strange, bright stream bursting from a mountain's heart. The dark waters run a short course under the sun before plunging into a black pit. The narrator becomes so absorbed in the sight that he forgets his companion, and upon waking, he reflects on the possibility of returning to that place.
Themes in this chapter
Memory and Time
The dream blurs past and present, and the narrator's reflection on returning suggests a cyclical experience of time.
The Cycle of Life and Death
The stream's emergence from the mountain's heart and its plunge into a dark pit mirrors the cycle of birth, life, and death.
Characters to notice
- Unknown
The dreamer who walks with an old friend and becomes mesmerized by the strange stream.
- Old Jack Noman
The old friend accompanying the narrator in the dream, though he is forgotten during the vision.
Key passages
“Over known fields with an old friend in dream I walked, but came sudden to a strange stream.”
In a dream, I walked across familiar fields with an old friend, but we unexpectedly arrived at a peculiar stream.
Introduces the dream setting and the sudden shift from the known to the unknown.
“Its dark waters were bursting out most bright From a great mountain’s heart into the light.”
The stream's dark waters gushed forth brilliantly from deep within a great mountain into the daylight.
Describes the dramatic emergence of the stream, emphasizing contrast between darkness and brightness.
“So by the roar and hiss And by the mighty motion of the abyss I was bemused, that I forgot my friend”
I was so captivated by the roaring, hissing, and powerful movement of the abyss that I lost awareness of my friend.
Highlights the narrator's deep absorption in the natural spectacle, leading to the loss of human connection.
“When I awoke from waters unto men Saying: 'I shall be here some day again.'”
When I woke from the dream of waters to the world of men, I said to myself, 'I will return to this place someday.'
Concludes the dream with a prophetic or hopeful statement about revisiting the dream landscape.