A Dream by Sophie Jewett 

Last night, what time dreams wander east and west,

What time a dream may linger, I lay dead,

With flare of tapers pale above my head,

With weight of drifted roses on my breast;

And they, who noiseless came to watch my rest,

Looked kindly down and gentle sentence said.

One sighed ” She was but young to go to-day; “

And one ” How fiercely life with death had striven

Ere God set free her spirit, sorrow-shriven! “

One said ” The children grieve for her at play; “

And one, who bent to take a rose away,

Whispered ” Dear love, would that we had forgiven.

Some sources state that the poem is the bittersweet feeling of a dream. When we are in a dream we wish to stay there forever and never go back to our reality. While in a dream it feels amazing “like weight of drifted roses on my breast” could mean a feeling of ease shown in the first stanza. Then in the second stanza the narrator creates dialog between those who aren’t dreaming “children grieve for her at play”  and “she was but young to go to-day” shows a disconnect that they are not at her spiritual level. They are longing for her since she is still in a dream.  This could just show how she cannot see the world as a home and feels more comforted while dreaming. The feeling of comfort is  shown all throughout the first stanza. It comes across  to me that they are grieving for her rather than just watching a child dream. Sophie dealt with a lot of loss in her childhood. She had to watch her mother die in the middle of the night. It feels like this poem is Sophie trying to place herself into her mothers shoes. She states “what time a dream may linger, I lay dead” showcasing either she died in her sleep, like her mother, or she feels like she is in the other dimension. It gives a dark energy rather than a light happy dream poem through diction like “tapers pale” “noiseless” and “sorrow-striven.” She and her family are those who “looked Kindly down” at her mother’s body. What sticks out to me is “dear love, would that we had forgiven.” It’s a play on the Lord’s Prayer “as we have forgiven” meaning we forgive those who hurt us. She is expressing hurt from her mom due to her dying so young and it feels through this poem she is trying to heal through appearing prayer-like. Though she might not have been religious it appears through speaking of “God” “death” and “forgiven” she is creating her own prayer for her mother to hopefully hear. That she has forgiven her mom now realizing all she did was pass in her sleep and did not realize who she was leaving behind, her daughter. The title of her prayer could be “To Love” since it could create a broad prayer for everyone to say. I chose this poem thinking it was about dreaming because I think dreams do represent a goal, fears or even just your brain interpreting what happened the day prior. If it was about feeling disconnected from the real world in her dream, I can relate. I used to tell my brother about my dreams and he would be jealous because he could never remember one. If the first interpretation of the poem is right then most people can relate a dream can be such a happy feeling and then you’re woken up to a blaring alarm clock. Leading to a stressful feeling to start the day. I have wanted a dream to be real but wishing for a dream can just cause your reality to feel tainted. I have woken up in sleep paralysis before where my body isn’t awake but my brain is and through the symbolism of dreaming and the eerie feeling this poem reminds me of it.  Some sources agree with my initial idea of the poem but when I read it all I think about is death, which is very depressing. It reminds me of a wake or an open casket. The poem through the first stanza shows a soul at peace and happy. Then in the second stanza shows those who are still on earth having to see the body. The “kind eyes” feel sad for them for going too soon. We all have been present for someone we love at a funeral but we never celebrate their life because we are obviously mourning. It’s extremely hard to understand if it was too soon. Yet I’ve never thought of the first stanza when I am present at a funeral. It’s the feeling of the good that can happen since the bad already did. The person at the funeral should be in a better place and all those people at the funeral’s lives have been changed by the life they lived. Now they will do better in life and be kinder through the impact of someone they loved dying unknowingly. We always try to be more accommodating to others’ lives and more understanding since for the time we are mourning we realize how little we know others are suffering. Everyone always says they are in a better place but Sophie expresses collateral beauty perfectly.

sources:

“What is the meaning of “A Dream” by Sophie Jewett” prompt. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 23 April. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.

a, n. “Sophie Jewett.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/sophie-jewett. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.