Dreams
(Adapted from: A Theory for Art, stanza vi)
Dreams may seem fragile eggshells, lying spurned
In crowded farmyards’ trampling unconcerns,
But over life’s worst hazards they prevail
Since, while we dream, fresh triumphs cannot fail.
Dreams are our minds’ creative factories
Renewing hopes, (crushed by life’s miseries),
Through inspirations which bring rich reward
By solving problems, not their disregard.
They free us from the tyranny of facts
And help us to create as we relax,
Turning disasters into victories
In shewing us some better strategies.
Through dreams we overcome despair and pain
As, in their comforts, we revive again;
Since people are not all they outward seem,
But can learn subtle secrets while they dream,
A dreaming mind can clearly recognise
Things which it cannot see when, open-eyed,
It’s misled by vague trivialities’
Useless inconsequentialities
Which can distract it from discovering,
Or understanding, more important things.
It is the poets’ function to present
Their dreams in forms that win others’ consent
So that mute tensions, (silenced underneath
The weight of conscious manners all must heed
Within society), may be expressed,
Inspired by dreams’ acute perceptiveness.
