Verses on Various Occasions · Chapter
Dreams explained
The speaker reflects on the tormenting power of dreams to resurrect past sins and guilt, but then counsels the heart to accept this suffering as a divine gift—a thorn sent to humble and remind the soul of its true nature and dependence on g
What happens
The speaker reflects on the tormenting power of dreams to resurrect past sins and guilt, but then counsels the heart to accept this suffering as a divine gift—a thorn sent to humble and remind the soul of its true nature and dependence on grace.
Themes in this chapter
Sin and Redemption
Dreams force the soul to relive past sins, but the 'wholesome smart' of the thorn is accepted as a means of penitence and purification.
Suffering and Humility
The thorn is welcomed as a divine gift that humbles the spirit and reminds it of its true condition.
Faith and Doubt
The speaker struggles with the misery of dreams but ultimately trusts in the divine purpose behind the suffering.
Characters to notice
- Unknown
The speaker who laments the power of dreams and then rebukes his own heart.
- Angel
Mentioned as grieving over the penitent's anger, representing a holy perspective.
- Sinner
Implied as the one whose past is recalled in dreams and who is called to accept the thorn.
- Satan
Referenced as the one in whose 'frantic train' the soul is mocked into acting again.
Key passages
“Oh! miserable power To dreams allow’d, to raise the guilty past, And back awhile the illumined spirit to cast On its youth’s twilight hour;”
Dreams have the miserable power to bring up past sins and throw the enlightened soul back into the dim memories of its youth.
The speaker laments how dreams can resurrect guilt from earlier life.
“Nay, hush thee, angry heart! An Angel’s grief ill fits a penitent; Welcome the thorn—it is divinely sent, And with its wholesome smart Shall pierce thee in thy virtue’s palmy home, And warn thee what thou art, and whence thy wealth has come.”
Be quiet, angry heart! A penitent should not cause an angel to grieve. Welcome the painful thorn, for it is sent by God to pierce you even in your moments of seeming virtue, reminding you of your true nature and the source of your blessings.
The speaker rebukes his own anger and accepts suffering as a humbling divine lesson.