Percy Bysshe Shelley

Marianne´s Dream

1.

A pale Dream came to a Lady fair,
And said, A boon, a boon, I pray!
I know the secrets of the air,
And things are lost in the glare of day,
Which I can make the sleeping see, 5
If they will put their trust in me.

2.

And thou shalt know of things unknown,
If thou wilt let me rest between
The veiny lids, whose fringe is thrown
Over thine eyes so dark and sheen: 10
And half in hope, and half in fright,
The Lady closed her eyes so bright.

3.

At first all deadly shapes were driven
Tumultuously across her sleep,
And o’er the vast cope of bending heaven 15
All ghastly-visaged clouds did sweep;
And the Lady ever looked to spy
If the golden sun shone forth on high.

4.

And as towards the east she turned,
She saw aloft in the morning air, 20
Which now with hues of sunrise burned,
A great black Anchor rising there;
And wherever the Lady turned her eyes,
It hung before her in the skies.

5.

The sky was blue as the summer sea, 25
The depths were cloudless overhead,
The air was calm as it could be,
There was no sight or sound of dread,
But that black Anchor floating still
Over the piny eastern hill. 30

6.

The Lady grew sick with a weight of fear
To see that Anchor ever hanging,
And veiled her eyes; she then did hear
The sound as of a dim low clanging,
And looked abroad if she might know 35
Was it aught else, or but the flow
Of the blood in her own veins, to and fro.

7.

There was a mist in the sunless air,
Which shook as it were with an earthquake’s shock,
But the very weeds that blossomed there 40
Were moveless, and each mighty rock
Stood on its basis steadfastly;
The Anchor was seen no more on high.

8.

But piled around, with summits hid
In lines of cloud at intervals, 45
Stood many a mountain pyramid
Among whose everlasting walls
Two mighty cities shone, and ever
Through the red mist their domes did quiver.

9.

On two dread mountains, from whose crest, 50
Might seem, the eagle, for her brood,
Would ne’er have hung her dizzy nest,
Those tower-encircled cities stood.
A vision strange such towers to see,
Sculptured and wrought so gorgeously, 55
Where human art could never be.

10.

And columns framed of marble white,
And giant fanes, dome over dome
Piled, and triumphant gates, all bright
With workmanship, which could not come 60
From touch of mortal instrument,
Shot o’er the vales, or lustre lent
From its own shapes magnificent.

11.

But still the Lady heard that clang
Filling the wide air far away; 65
And still the mist whose light did hang
Among the mountains shook alway,
So that the Lady’s heart beat fast,
As half in joy, and half aghast,
On those high domes her look she cast. 70

12.

Sudden, from out that city sprung
A light that made the earth grow red;
Two flames that each with quivering tongue
Licked its high domes, and overhead
Among those mighty towers and fanes 75
Dropped fire, as a volcano rains
Its sulphurous ruin on the plains.

13.

And hark! a rush as if the deep
Had burst its bonds; she looked behind
And saw over the western steep 80
A raging flood descend, and wind
Through that wide vale; she felt no fear,
But said within herself, ’Tis clear
These towers are Nature’s own, and she
To save them has sent forth the sea. 85

14.

And now those raging billows came
Where that fair Lady sate, and she
Was borne towards the showering flame
By the wild waves heaped tumultuously.
And, on a little plank, the flow 90
Of the whirlpool bore her to and fro.

15.

The flames were fiercely vomited
From every tower and every dome,
And dreary light did widely shed
O’er that vast flood’s suspended foam, 95
Beneath the smoke which hung its night
On the stained cope of heaven’s light.

16.

The plank whereon that Lady sate
Was driven through the chasms, about and about,
Between the peaks so desolate 100
Of the drowning mountains, in and out,
As the thistle-beard on a whirlwind sails—
While the flood was filling those hollow vales.

17.

At last her plank an eddy crossed,
And bore her to the city’s wall, 105
Which now the flood had reached almost;
It might the stoutest heart appal
To hear the fire roar and hiss
Through the domes of those mighty palaces.

18.

The eddy whirled her round and round 110
Before a gorgeous gate, which stood
Piercing the clouds of smoke which bound
Its aery arch with light like blood;
She looked on that gate of marble clear,
With wonder that extinguished fear. 115

19.

For it was filled with sculptures rarest,
Of forms most beautiful and strange,
Like nothing human, but the fairest
Of winged shapes, whose legions range
Throughout the sleep of those that are, 120
Like this same Lady, good and fair.

20.

And as she looked, still lovelier grew
Those marble forms;—the sculptor sure
Was a strong spirit, and the hue
Of his own mind did there endure 125
After the touch, whose power had braided
Such grace, was in some sad change faded.

21.

She looked, the flames were dim, the flood
Grew tranquil as a woodland river
Winding through hills in solitude; 130
Those marble shapes then seemed to quiver,
And their fair limbs to float in motion,
Like weeds unfolding in the ocean.

22.

And their lips moved; one seemed to speak,
When suddenly the mountains cracked, 135
And through the chasm the flood did break
With an earth-uplifting cataract:
The statues gave a joyous scream,
And on its wings the pale thin Dream
Lifted the Lady from the stream. 140

23.

The dizzy flight of that phantom pale
Waked the fair Lady from her sleep,
And she arose, while from the veil
Of her dark eyes the Dream did creep,
And she walked about as one who knew 145
That sleep has sights as clear and true
As any waking eyes can view.

 http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/s/shelley/percy_bysshe/s54cp/section115.html

The poem Marianne´s dream was written by Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1817. Published in Hunt’s “Literary Pocket-Book”, 1819, and reprinted in “Posthumous Poems”, 1824.

The poem is about a Lady´s dream. In her dream she goes to a place where she experiences a strange phenomenon.

Although the poem is presented as a dream, it turns then into another kind of narration. You pass from the calm narration of a dream to a narration of how nature acts.

As the title says, it is Marianne´s dream, but in the poem the name is not present anywhere. The poet refers to the protagonist as the Lady.

The other character that appears is the Dream, that here appears as the one who takes the Lady to that strange world dominated by nature. The Dream is like a kind of messenger that takes her, shows what he wants her to see and then returns her to reality.

So, there are two important themes:

-         the strangeness of  Dreams, there you can live a lot of fantastic adventures , but at the same time it can show true things.

-         The power of nature and all the things that it has: sky, sea, mountains, animals...

Its power to create but also to destroy.

These themes are put together in the poem, the dream introduces the Lady and the reader together into that events that are like a storm. One after the other. And the Lady can do nothing unless she sees the spectacle. In a way, the Lady represents the human beings that can do nothing to stop the power of nature, and nothing can be done to create something as wonderful as nature does.

The humanity is also a creation of nature, so it is part of that picture that the dream describes.

At the end we are given a kind of conclusion that a dream can show things as clear and true as when you are not sleeping. To make the reader know that dreams are as important as other experiences.

The poem is presented from the point of view of the Lady. But it is not told in the first person. Through it, we know how she feels, because Shelley is always making statements about her, if she is frightened, or growing sick. Although there is no physical description provided, we only know she is good and fair.

The lady is the protagonist, as the title says, it is her dream. But when she goes into the dream she is like a spectator of the events, as the reader himself. She can do nothing except see what happens.

The tone of “Marianne´s Dream” is all the same during the poem. There isn´t any kind of humour or irony. Although it starts as a tale, it is not for children, because the Lady goes into that environment a bit scared and we don´t know if it would end happily or if something horrible happens to her.

The poem is divided in 23 stanzas, with 7 verses each one. The rhyme scheme is a b a b c c.

According to the theme this stanzas can be divided in 4  parts:

-         Stanza 1-2: the Dream comes and the Lady goes, althoug she is frigthened.

-         Stanza 3-13: the environments are described, the atmosphere, the Lady is there seeing but she is sitting.

-         Stanza 14-22: she has to flow taking a little plank, and starts a travel through violent forces

-         Stanza 23: the Dream takes her back and the conclusion is given.

There are different key images in the poem, as the use of the Dream. That is personified and takes the Lady into the important thing of the poem. Shelley tells a dream, but not a conventional dream. And with the conclusion he says that it can be reality, he makes the reader doubt about if it is a dream or reality.

Another key image, is nature. Here, there is a world governed by nature, the Lady is an observer and has no power. But this dream world is the real world itself. Nature is everywhere present and governs humanity.

Between these two key images of dream and nature, there is another the opposition between storm and calm. When the poem starts the lady starts to be frightened and the calm ends, then there is moment of one event after the other, a powerful storm occurs, and at the end calm returns with the end of the dream.

Talking about technical features, the most remarkable thing is that there are a lot of words dealing with nature (skies, hill, mountain, eagle). All its aspects regarding to air, water, fire and land are covered.

There is also a lot of adjetivation because the poem is full of descriptions (pale Dream, Lady fair, beautiful, strange...)

Example of repetitions: line 2 a boon, a boon, line 7-91 to and fro.

There are quite comparissons: line 25 the sky was blue as summer sea.

The use of synonyms : whirlpool, whirlwind, eddy.

There is one occasion in which there is an exclamation, in line 78 in a way warning the Lady. And once there is a participation of the Lady. In line 83 we go into the Lady and read her thoughts.

When you first read the poem, it seems quite difficult to understand the dream. Then all the things that occur. This together with the mistery of the Lady, that we never know who she is, if she is one person that Shelley knows or if she is invented.

But then reading it again and again , we arrive to the conclusion that the important thing is that what occurs there is not just a dream, it is real. It is revealed to us at the end of the poem.

All the poem seems to be a travelling through truth, the Lady is frightened at the beginning and during the dream, but at the end she is calm.

This must be the sensation everybody has felt waking up after having a good dream, although in this case the dream is like being inside a storm.