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THE SLAVE’S DREAM
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
About
the author:
Summary of the text:
H. W. Longfellow is a prominent poet of
American origin. In the poem “The Slave’s Dream”, Longfellow describes the
slave’s dying moment as lost in a dream. He dreams of his African home,
imagines a life of fun and gaiety in the company of his kinsfolk, and fancies
himself as a king. The sights and sounds of his native land and the free life
he had once led among his people are vividly recalled by the slave.
‘The Slave’s Dream’ portrays the lost dreams
and ambitions of a slave. The slave is captivated by the images of his family
and native land. Holding his sickle in hand, the slave lies in the field,
bare-breasted, his matted hair covered by sand.
Along the stretch of scenery of his dreams,
the river Niger flows regally. He imagines himself to be a king, no more bound
to the shackles of slavery, but free to do whatever he wishes.
He strides majestically over the plains lined
by palm trees. The slave is so empowered by his dream, that he visualizes
himself in a land where he is an individual not just a slave.
The images of his family bring a tear to his
eye. Like a king he rides his stallion in search of adventures. The lion’s
roar, the hyena’s scream and the grunt of the hippopotamus sound like a
glorious roll of drums to his ears. The sound from the forest and the desert
introduces ideas of wildness and liberty in his mind. As he finally gasps for
his last breath, he smiles in ‘tempestuous glee’.
The recollections are so strong that his
abject slavery and shameful death hardly trouble him. ‘The Slaves Dream’ is
celebration of liberty and dignity. No master can deprive his slave of his
liberty to dream. As the driver whips the slave, as the sun beats heavily on
his body, the slave lies motionless as his soul has broken away from the fetters
of his body. Death illumines his land of sleep as death has saved him from the
miseries of life.
Self-check
questions:
1. Who
is the sleeper referred to in the following lines? Why does he weep?
“A
tear burst from the sleeper’s lids
And fell
into the sand.”
2. How does the poet describe the slave
waiting for his death?
3. How does the slave die as a free man?
4. What special use of words do you see in
this poem?
Answers
for self-check questions:
1. The
sleeper is a slave. The thought of his family made him weep.
2. The poet describes the slave as a man
waiting for his death with fortitude. His dreams of liberty and a good life
fortifies him.
3. The dream of his homeland and his kinsfolk
and a free life their enabled him to die a free man.
4. The poet uses rhyming words like
hand-sand-land; flowed-strode-road etc. and contrasts like death-life;
stillness- movement; the fettered body-the free soul etc. to express the intensity of the suffering of the
slave.
Paragraph:
What
are the rosy dreams of the slave, as painted by the poet?
Answer:
The slave dreams of his African home,
imagines a life of fun and gaiety in the company of his kinsfolk, and fancies
himself a king. In the vast landscape of his dreams, the slave sees once again
his land, Africa and the river Niger. Like a king he strode over the plains. He
also dreams of his family – his wife and children and the warmth of love they
share. Like a king he rode on the stallion holding the golden bridle reins. In
this dream, he heard the roar of the lion, the cry of the hyena and the river
horse. The whole of nature seems to him, in his dream, to be shouting for
liberty. As the dream ends, the slave escapes to the kingdom of death.
Topic
for Discussion:
“A
Slave’s Dream” is a celebration of liberty and dignity. Discuss
Reference
The
Slave’s Dream Summary and Analysis
This article provides ‘The Slave’s Dream’
summary and analysis written by H.W.Longfellow and is specially meant to help
students to understand the implication of the poem.
H.W. Longfellow’s Poems on Slavery are said
to be “so mild that even a Slaveholder might read them without losing his
appetite for breakfast”. The Slave’s Dream is about a series of dreams of a
victim of slavery during the 19th century.
Beside the ungathered rice he lay,
His sickle in his hand;
His breast was bare, his matted hair
Was buried in the sand.
Again, in the mist and shadow of sleep,
He saw his Native Land.
The physical image of a slave is portrayed
through the first stanza of the poem. He is tired from the all work that he has
to do on the fields and falls asleep. This last dreaming slumber gives way to a
series of oneirisms which reflects the desires of his waking life.
The phrases “ungathered rice” and “sickle in
his hand” indicates that his assigned task is left incomplete by him due to his
immense fatigue. His bare breast represents the barrenness of his life as a
slave and his matted hair “buried” in the sand symbolizes death slowly creeping
over his exhausted body. As he sleeps, he sees his once again “Native Land” in
his dream.
Wide through the landscape of his dreams
The lordly Niger flowed;
Beneath the palm-trees on the plain
Once more a king he strode;
And heard the tinkling caravans
Descend the mountain-road.
From the second stanza onwards, his dream is
described vividly by the poet. We come to know from the phrase “lordly Niger”
that his native land was Africa. “Once more a king he strode” makes us guess
that perhaps he was the King of a tribe of his land. In his sleep, he once
again relives the days of his freedom and he almost hears the “tinkling
caravans/ Descend the mountain road”.
He saw once more his dark-eyed queen
Among her children stand;
They clasped his neck, they kissed his cheeks,
They held him by the hand!—
A tear burst from the sleeper’s lids
And fell into the sand.
The third stanza introduces us to his family.
He misses his “dark-eyed queen” and his children. He dreams of how they would
clasp his neck, kiss his cheeks and hold him by his hand. Such is the intensity
of his dream that he cries in his sleep and a futile tear drops on to the sand
and is absorbed.
And then at furious speed he rode
Along the Niger’s bank;
His bridle-reins were golden chains,
And, with a martial clank,
At each leap he could feel his scabbard of steel
Smiting his stallion’s flank.
In the fourth stanza, we see how he perceives
his life as a free man. He sees himself riding a horse at a “furious speed”,
with golden chains as bridle-reins and warrior- like he smites his sword on his
stallion’s flanks.
Before him, like a blood-red flag,
The bright flamingoes flew;
From morn till night he followed their flight,
O’er plains where the tamarind grew,
Till he saw the roofs of Caffre huts,
And the ocean rose to view.
The fifth stanza is a continuation of the
fourth as he sees himself following the flight of flamingos over the plains where
tamarind was grown. He recalls the “caffre huts” and the ocean through his
subconscious.
At night he heard the lion roar,
And the hyena scream,
And the river-horse, as he crushed the reeds
Beside some hidden stream;
And it passed, like a glorious roll of drums,
Through the triumph of his dream.
Then in the sixth stanza he dreams
sequentially of the lion’s roar, the
hyena’s scream and pictures himself crushing reeds, listening to the river
horse making a sound “like a glorious roll of drums” as it passes. His dream is
triumphant as it successfully gives him a sense of freedom and happiness.
The forests, with their myriad tongues,
Shouted of liberty;
And the Blast of the Desert cried aloud,
With a voice so wild and free,
That he started in his sleep and smiled
At their tempestuous glee.
The seventh stanza once again portrays how
the forests of his mind, with their “myriad tongues” shout out his soul’s
desire — liberty. The cry of the turbulent “blast of the desert” echoes through
his being, making him start with a smile in his sleep.
He did not feel the driver’s whip,
Nor the burning heat of day;
For Death had illumined the Land of Sleep,
And his lifeless body lay
A worn-out fetter, that the soul
Had broken and thrown away!
In the eighth stanza, the poet returns to the
physical condition of the slave who now lies numb and senseless in his death,
not feeling the “driver’s whip” or the “burning heat of the day”. Through his
death his soul has broken the fetters of his body and attained freedom.
Throughout the poem the poet uses graphic
images — visual, auditory and tactile, efficiently describing the slave’s
picturesque “native land” and creating an atmosphere of pathos which is full of
impact. The slave, is liberated from the tyranny of slavedom symbolically in
his dream and finally by death. At the end, the poem evokes mixed reactions. We
feel both happy and sad for the slave as his soul transcends misery and attains
freedom through his demise. Though not free in real life, his last slumber and
the visions of freedom that are conjured, show that on the level of
consciousness at least, he conquered his bondsman existence.
The poem The Slave's Dream is an ode to Liberty marked by the
wonderful imagery that brings it alive. The poet recreates the gorgeous
landscape of Africa, with the "lordly" Niger, the palm trees, the
tinkling caravans, the dark eyed queen, the bright flamingos, the caffre huts
and the river horse.. The poet brings out the inner glory of the slave's spirit
as it breaks free from the human fetters and escapes to the freedom that death
brings with it.
H.W. Longfellow’s Poems on Slavery are said
to be “so mild that even a Slaveholder might read them without losing his
appetite for breakfast”. The Slave’s Dream is about a series of dreams of a
victim of slavery during the 19th century.
The physical image of a slave is portrayed through the first stanza of
the poem. He is tired from the all work that he has to do on the fields and
falls asleep. This last dreaming slumber gives way to a series of oneirisms
which reflects the desires of his waking life.
The phrases “ungathered rice” and “sickle in his hand” indicates that
his assigned task is left incomplete by him due to his immense fatigue. His
bare breast represents the barrenness of his life as a slave and his matted
hair “buried” in the sand symbolizes death slowly creeping over his exhausted
body. As he sleeps, he sees his once again “Native Land” in his dream.
From the second stanza onwards, his dream is described vividly by the
poet. We come to know from the phrase “lordly Niger” that his native land was
Africa. “Once more a king he strode” makes us guess that perhaps he was the
King of a tribe of his land. In his sleep, he once again relives the days of
his freedom and he almost hears the “tinkling caravans/ Descend the mountain
road”.
The third stanza introduces us to his family. He misses his “dark-eyed
queen” and his children. He dreams of how they would clasp his neck, kiss his
cheeks and hold him by his hand. Such is the intensity of his dream that he
cries in his sleep and a futile tear drops on to the sand and is absorbed.
In the fourth stanza, we see
how he perceives his life as a free man. He sees himself riding a horse at a
“furious speed”, with golden chains as bridle-reins and warrior- like he smites
his sword on his stallion’s flanks.
The fifth stanza is a
continuation of the fourth as he sees himself following the flight of flamingos
over...
Reference:
The Slaves Dream, Henry Longfellow
This poem is about a Nigerian slave in America. The slaves at that time were very poorly treated and they were separated from their families, leisure's and comfort and were made to work endlessly with a very meager pay.
This poem is started off with a slave who is under the scorching heat of the day working in rice fields where his fatigue body finally gives away and causes him to lie down in the ungathered rice (shows his work was still pending). The instrument he used for his work (sickle) was still in his hand and he lay with his head dipped in the sand and a bare chest and "matted" hair.
The poet says "again he saw his native land". This means that the slave repeatedly dreamed of his native land and missed it.
We are then given a long glimpse of the slave's dream of his native land- Nigeria. He thinks of the Niger river which flowed beneath the palm trees on a plain. There he was probably the king of his tribe and a free man. He recalls a caravan descending down the mountain road.
He remembers his "dark-eyed" wife who he refers to as his "queen" because he himself was a king. He remembers his children who embraced and kissed him on the cheek and held him by the hand. This thought caused a tear to drop from the slave's eye whilst he was asleep but within seconds disappeared into the sand where it fell.
He remembers freely riding a stallion at a ferocious speed along the banks of the Niger river. He expresses his king-like royalty when he says his reigns were made of gold and he rode like a knight who's scabbard (container for sword) was striking his horse as he was riding.
He remembers blood red colored flamingo's flying from morning to night over plains where tamarind used to grow. And he recalls caffre huts and the ocean's view.
He recalls the roar of the lion at night and the hyena's scream and a river horse. All these memories came to him like a drum roll, all following one after the other in a sequence. It was a happy, merry, triumphant dream.
He thinks about the forests and each of their "myriad tongues" (individual leaves) each shouting for liberty and freedom. He thinks of the strong desert winds that also wish to be free. He smiled in his sleep thinking of all this hope of freedom and how tempting this happiness was.
This happiness was the last point between his dream and death. after inducing these calm, pleasant, nice thoughts in his head he finally laid to rest. He could not feel the scorching sun on his bare body, nor his master's whip. His "land of sleep" was brightened/illuminated by death (as, there was nobody to wake him from this serene dream). Now only his body lay there, whereas his soul was in a much better place. His body was worn-out from all the work he had done. He was finally freed from his slavery.
It is really an excellent comment.
ReplyDeleteNice
ReplyDeleteWhy did the poet use 'he' instead of giving any name to the slave ?
ReplyDeletebecause he is not only talking about himself but also all his people who lost their land and were taken as slaves
DeleteWould this poem againts the slavery??
ReplyDeletehow does the writer show the sad story of the slave?
ReplyDelete