# A Song in a Dream explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by George MacDonald.

## What happens

The narrator describes a dream in which they hear a transcendent song, sung by a woman's voice, that lifts the spirit through harmonies of sorrow, triumph, death, and life, blending into a mystical and prophetic chant.

## Themes in this chapter

### Spiritual Struggle and Doubt

The song blends sorrow and triumph, death and life, reflecting a spiritual journey through struggle.

### Longing for Immortality

The narrator desires to mold a similar chant from their parting breath, hinting at a longing for eternal expression.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The dreamer who hears the song and reflects on its spiritual power.

### VI The Woman

The woman whose voice sings the prophetic song in the dream.

## Key lines

> I dreamed of a song, I heard it sung; In the ear that sleeps not its music rung.

I dreamt of a song that was sung, and its music echoed in my ever-wakeful inner ear.

_The song is both a dream and a lasting spiritual impression._

> A woman’s voice the deep echoes awoke, In the caverns and solitudes of my soul;

A woman's voice stirred deep resonances within the hidden, solitary places of my soul.

_The voice reaches into the narrator's innermost being._

> There was sorrow and triumph, and death and life In each chord-note of that prophet-song, Blended in one harmonious throng:

Each note of that prophetic song contained sorrow and triumph, death and life, all blended together in harmony.

_The song encapsulates the full spectrum of human experience._

> Such a chant, ere my voice has fled from death, Be it mine to mould of the parting breath.

May I be able to shape such a chant from my final breath, before my voice departs in death.

_The narrator aspires to create a similarly profound expression at life's end._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters/a-song-in-a-dream
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_8_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters