The Lady's Dream
The lady lay in her bed,Her couch so warm and soft,But her sleep was restless and broken still;For turning often and oftFrom side to side, she mutter'd and moan'd,And toss'd her arms aloft.
At last she startled up,And gazed on the vacant air,With a look of awe, as if she sawSome dreadful phantom there--And then in the pillow she buried her faceFrom visions ill to bear.
The very curtain shook,Her terror was so extreme;And the light that fell on the broider'd quiltKept a tremulous gleam;And her voice was hollow, and shook as she cried:--"Oh me! that awful dream"!
"That weary, weary walk,In the churchyard's dismal ground!And those horrible things, with shady wings,That came and flitted round,--Death, death, and nothing but death,In every sight and sound!
"And oh! those maidens young,Who wrought in that dreary room,With figures drooping and spectres thin,And cheeks without a bloom;--And the Voice that cried, 'For the pomp of pride,We haste to an early tomb!
"'For the pomp and pleasure of Pride,We toil like Afric slaves,And only to earn a home at last,Where yonder cypress waves;'--And then they pointed--I never sawA ground so full of graves!
"And still the coffins came,With their sorrowful trains and slow;Coffin after coffin still,A sad and sickening show;From grief exempt, I never had dreamtOf such a World of Woe!
"Of the hearts that daily break,Of the tears that hourly fall,Of the many, many troubles of life,That grieve this earthly ball--Disease and Hunger, and Pain, and Want,But now I dreamt of them all!
"For the blind and the cripple were there,And the babe that pined for bread,And the houseless man, and the widow poorWho begged--to bury the dead;The naked, alas, that I might have clad,The famish'd I might have fed!
"The sorrow I might have sooth'd,And the unregarded tears;For many a thronging shape was there,From long-forgotten years,Ay, even the poor rejected Moor,Who raised my childish fears!
"Each pleading look, that long agoI scann'd with a heedless eye,Each face was gazing as plainly there,As when I pass'd it by:Woe, woe for me if the past should beThus present when I die!
"No need of sulphurous lake,No need of fiery coal,But only that crowd of human kindWho wanted pity and dole--In everlasting retrospect--Will wring my sinful soul!
"Alas! I have walk'd through lifeToo heedless where I trod;Nay, helping to trample my fellow-worm,And fill the burial sod--Forgetting that even the sparrow fallsNot unmark'd of God!
"I drank the richest draughts;And ate whatever is good--Fish, and flesh, and fowl, and fruit,Supplied my hungry mood;But I never remember'd the wretched onesThat starve for want of food!
"I dress'd as the noble dress,In cloth of silver and gold,With silk, and satin, and costly furs,In many an ample fold;But I never remember'd the naked limbsThat froze with winter's cold.
"The wounds I might have heal'd!The human sorrow and smart!And yet it never was in my soulTo play so ill a part:But evil is wrought by want of Thought,As well as want of Heart!"
She clasp'd her fervent hands,And the tears began to stream;Large, and bitter, and fast they fell,Remorse was so extreme;And yet, oh yet, that many a DameWould dream the Lady's Dream!
Words in this poem 16
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- dismal a.
- Fatal; ill-omened; unlucky. [Formerly a noun; e. g., "I trow it was in the dismalle." Chaucer. Of uncertain origin; but perh. (as suggested by Skeat) from OF. disme, F. dîme, tithe, the phr]
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- sickening a.
- Causing sickness; specif., causing surfeit or disgust; nauseating.
- hourly a.
- Happening or done every hour; occurring hour by hour; frequent; often repeated; renewed hour by hour; continual.
- cripple n.
- One who creeps, halts, or limps; one who has lost, or never had, the use of a limb or limbs; a lame person; hence, one who is partially disabled. [OE. cripel, crepel, crupel, AS. crypel (akin to D. kreuple, G. kr, Dan. kr, Icel. kryppill), prop., one that can not walk, but must creep, fr. AS. cre to creep.]
- babe n.
- An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
- houseless a.
- Destitute of the shelter of a house; shelterless; homeless; as, a houseless wanderer.
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- retrospect v. i.
- To look backward; hence, to affect or concern what is past. [L. retrospicere; retro back + specere, spectum, to look. See Spy, and cf. Expect.]
- burial n.
- A grave; a tomb; a place of sepulture. [OE. buriel, buriels, grave, tomb, AS. byrgels, fr. byrgan to bury, and akin to OS. burgisli sepulcher.]
- drank n.
- Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [Cf. 3d Drake.]
- fervent a.
- Hot; glowing; boiling; burning; as, a fervent summer. [F. fervent, L. fervens, -entis. p.pr. of fervere o the boiling hot, to boil, glow.]
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Lady's Dream is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Thomas Hood, Project Gutenberg ebook #15652; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Hood, The Lady's Dream, in The Song of the Shirt, and Other Poems (1826–1845), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15652, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hood-poetical-works/the-lady-s-dream.html, id L20115.
Form and metre
The Lady's Dream is 102 lines in 17 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-A-A bed · softA · still · oftA · moan'd · aloftA
- 2 -A-A-A up · airA · saw · thereA · face · bearA
- 3 -A-A-A shook · extremeA · quilt · gleamA · cried · dreamA
- 4 -A-A-A walk · groundA · wings · roundA · death · soundA
- 5 -A-A-A young · roomA · thin · bloomA · pride · tombA
- 6 -A-A-A pride · slavesA · last · wavesA · saw · gravesA
- 7 -A-A-A came · slowA · still · showA · dreamt · woeA
- 8 -A-A-A break · fallA · life · ballA · want · allA
- 9 -A-A-A there · breadA · poor · deadA · clad · fedA
- 10 -A-A-A sooth'd · tearsA · there · yearsA · moor · fearsA
- 11 -A-AAA ago · eyeA · there · byA · beA · dieA
- 12 -A-A-A lake · coalA · kind · doleA · retrospect · soulA
- 13 -A-A-A life · trodA · worm · sodA · falls · godA
- 14 ---A-A draughts · good · fruit · moodA · ones · foodA
- 15 -A-A-A dress · goldA · furs · foldA · limbs · coldA
- 16 -A-A-A heal'd · smartA · soul · partA · thought · heartA
- 17 -A-A-A hands · streamA · fell · extremeA · dame · dreamA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The lady lay in her bed, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Her couch so warm and soft, | 6 | ······ |
| But her sleep was restless and broken still; | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| For turning often and oft | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| From side to side, she mutter'd and moan'd, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| And toss'd her arms aloft. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| At last she startled up, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And gazed on the vacant air, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| With a look of awe, as if she saw | 9 | ········· |
| Some dreadful phantom there-- | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And then in the pillow she buried her face | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| From visions ill to bear. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The very curtain shook, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Her terror was so extreme; | 7 | ·/˘··˘/ |
| And the light that fell on the broider'd quilt | 10 | ·········· |
| Kept a tremulous gleam; | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| And her voice was hollow, and shook as she cried:-- | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| "Oh me! that awful dream"! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| "That weary, weary walk, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| In the churchyard's dismal ground! | 7 | ··/·/˘· |
| And those horrible things, with shady wings, | 10 | ··/˘˘··/˘· |
| That came and flitted round,-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Death, death, and nothing but death, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| In every sight and sound! | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| "And oh! those maidens young, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Who wrought in that dreary room, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| With figures drooping and spectres thin, | 9 | ·/˘/˘·/˘· |
| And cheeks without a bloom;-- | 6 | ······ |
| And the Voice that cried, 'For the pomp of pride, | 10 | ·········· |
| We haste to an early tomb! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| "'For the pomp and pleasure of Pride, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| We toil like Afric slaves, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And only to earn a home at last, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Where yonder cypress waves;'-- | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And then they pointed--I never saw | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| A ground so full of graves! | 6 | ······ |
| "And still the coffins came, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| With their sorrowful trains and slow; | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Coffin after coffin still, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| A sad and sickening show; | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| From grief exempt, I never had dreamt | 9 | ··˘/·/˘·· |
| Of such a World of Woe! | 6 | ······ |
| "Of the hearts that daily break, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Of the tears that hourly fall, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Of the many, many troubles of life, | 10 | ··/˘/˘/˘·· |
| That grieve this earthly ball-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Disease and Hunger, and Pain, and Want, | 9 | ˘/·/˘···· |
| But now I dreamt of them all! | 7 | ······· |
| "For the blind and the cripple were there, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| And the babe that pined for bread, | 7 | ······· |
| And the houseless man, and the widow poor | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| Who begged--to bury the dead; | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| The naked, alas, that I might have clad, | 10 | ·/˘˘/····· |
| The famish'd I might have fed! | 7 | ······· |
| "The sorrow I might have sooth'd, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And the unregarded tears; | 7 | ······· |
| For many a thronging shape was there, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| From long-forgotten years, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Ay, even the poor rejected Moor, | 9 | ·/˘··˘/˘· |
| Who raised my childish fears! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| "Each pleading look, that long ago | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| I scann'd with a heedless eye, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Each face was gazing as plainly there, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| As when I pass'd it by: | 6 | ······ |
| Woe, woe for me if the past should be | 9 | ········· |
| Thus present when I die! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| "No need of sulphurous lake, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| No need of fiery coal, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| But only that crowd of human kind | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Who wanted pity and dole-- | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| In everlasting retrospect-- | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Will wring my sinful soul! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| "Alas! I have walk'd through life | 7 | ˘/····· |
| Too heedless where I trod; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Nay, helping to trample my fellow-worm, | 10 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘· |
| And fill the burial sod-- | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Forgetting that even the sparrow falls | 10 | ˘/˘·/˘·/˘· |
| Not unmark'd of God! | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| "I drank the richest draughts; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And ate whatever is good-- | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Fish, and flesh, and fowl, and fruit, | 7 | ······· |
| Supplied my hungry mood; | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| But I never remember'd the wretched ones | 10 | ··/˘/˘·/˘· |
| That starve for want of food! | 6 | ······ |
| "I dress'd as the noble dress, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| In cloth of silver and gold, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| With silk, and satin, and costly furs, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| In many an ample fold; | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| But I never remember'd the naked limbs | 10 | ··/˘/˘·/˘· |
| That froze with winter's cold. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| "The wounds I might have heal'd! | 6 | ······ |
| The human sorrow and smart! | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| And yet it never was in my soul | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| To play so ill a part: | 6 | ······ |
| But evil is wrought by want of Thought, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| As well as want of Heart!" | 6 | ······ |
| She clasp'd her fervent hands, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And the tears began to stream; | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Large, and bitter, and fast they fell, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Remorse was so extreme; | 6 | ˘/··˘/ |
| And yet, oh yet, that many a Dame | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Would dream the Lady's Dream! | 6 | ···/˘· |
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