A DREAM

1
A DREAM

• BY WILLIAM
• ALLINGHAM

2
William Allingham
3
William Allingham
4
A DREAM

• I heard the dogs howl in the moonlight
  night I went to the window to see the
  sightAll the Dead that ever I knew Going one
  by one and two by two. On they pass'd, and on
  they pass'd Townsfellows all, from first to
  last Born in the moonlight of the lane,
  Quench'd in the heavy shadow again.
  Schoolmates, marching as when they play'd At
  soldiers once - but now more staid Those were
  the strangest sight to me Who were drown'd, I
  knew, in the awful sea.Straight and handsome
  folk, bent and weak, too Some that I loved, and
  gasp'd to speak toSome but a day in their
  churchyard bed Some that I had not known were
  dead.

5
A DREAM

• A long, long crowd - where each seem'd
  lonely, Yet of them all there was one, one only,
  Raised a head or look'd my way She linger'd a
  moment - she might not stay. How long since I
  saw that fair pale face! Ah! Mother dear! might
  I only place My head on thy breast, a moment to
  rest, While thy hand on my tearful cheek were
  prest! On, on, a moving bridge they made
  Across the moon-stream, from shade to shade,
  Young and old, women and men Many long-forgot,
  but remembered then, And first there came a
  bitter laughterA sound of tears a moment after
  And then a music so lofty and gay, That eve
  morning, day by day, I strive to recall it if I
  may.

6
BACKGROUND

• William Allingham (19 March 1824 or 1828 - 18
  November 1889) was an Irish man of letters and a
  poet.
• He was born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal,
  Ireland and was the son of the manager of a local
  bank who was of English descent. He obtained a
  post in the custom-house of his native town and
  held several similar posts in Ireland and England
  until 1870, when he had retired from the service,
  and became sub-editor of Fraser's Magazine, which
  he edited from 1874 to 1879, in succession to
  James Froude. He had published a volume of Poems
  in 1850, followed by Day and Night Songs, a
  volume containing many charming lyrics, in 1855.
  Allingham was on terms of close friendship with
  DG Rossetti, who contributed to the illustration
  of the Songs. His Letters to Allingham
  (1854-1870) were edited by Dr. Birkbeck Hill in
  1897. Lawrence Bloomfield in Ireland, his most
  ambitious, though not his most successful work, a
  narrative poem illustrative of Irish social
  questions, appeared in 1864. He also edited The
  Ballad Book for the Golden Treasury series in
  1864.
• In 1874 Allingham married Helen Paterson, known
  under her married name as a water-colour painter.
  He died at Hampstead in 1889, and his ashes are
  interred at St. Anne's in his native
  Ballyshannon.

7
BACKGROUND

• Though working on an unostentatious scale,
  Allingham produced much excellent lyrical and
  descriptive poetry, and the best of his pieces
  are thoroughly national in spirit and local
  colouring. His verse is clear, fresh, and
  graceful.
• Other works are Fifty Modern Poems (1865), Songs,
  Poems, and Ballads (1877), Evil May Day (1883),
  Blackberries (1884), Irish Songs and Poems
  (1887), and Varieties in Prose (1893), and,
  arguably his most famous work, "The Faeries" (see
  below).
• William Allingham a Diary (1907), edited by Mrs
  Allingham and D Radford, contains many
  interesting reminiscences of Tennyson, Carlyle
  and other famous contemporaries
• The Ulster poet John Hewitt felt Allingham's
  influence keenly, and his attempts to revive his
  reputation included editing and writing an
  introduction to The Poems of William Allingham
  (Oxford University Press/ Dolmen Press, 1967).

8
youtube

• A reading of his famous poem The Fairies as an
  introduction to the poets work
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v1XqDOH2tMhA

9
History about the return of the dead

• Ireland
• During Samhain in Ireland, the dead are supposed
  to return, and food and light are left for them.
  Lights are left burning all night, as on
  Christmas Eve, and food is left outdoors for
  them. It is believed that food fallen on the
  floor should also be left, as someone needed it.
• Europe
• Traditionally, in Celtic and Germanic Europe, the
  feast of Samhain was specially associated with
  the deceased, and, in these countries, it was
  still customary to set a place for them at table
  on this day until relatively recent times. After
  Christianisation, in most Catholic countries in
  Europe (and Anglican England), November 1 (All
  Saints' Day, also known as Day of the Dead)
  became the day when families go to the cemeteries
  and light candles for their dead relatives. This
  is a very ancient practice, already present long
  before the time of the Roman Empire. In the early
  Catholic Church, honouring Christian relatives
  who had died was commonplace, and, during the
  post-Apostolic period when the Church was forced
  underground by the Roman Empire, the Mass was
  celebrated among the catacombs. The official day,
  according to the Church, to commemorate the dead
  who have not attained beatific vision is November
  2 (All Souls' Day).
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain

10
Day of the Dead

• In some countries the dead are honoured with
  specials festivals and their living ancestors
  believe that the dead visit them on these days
• Day of the Dead (Spanish Día de los Muertos) is
  a holiday celebrated by many in Mexico and by
  some Mexican Americans living in the United
  States and Canada. The holiday focuses on
  gatherings of family and friends to pray for and
  remember friends and family members who have
  died. The celebration occurs on November 2 in
  connection with the Catholic holidays of All
  Saints' Day (November 1) and All Souls' Day
  (November 2). Traditions connected with the
  holiday include building private altars honoring
  the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and
  the favorite foods and beverages of the departed
  and visiting graves with these as gifts. The Day
  of the Dead is a time of celebration when eating
  and parties are common. Due to occurring shortly
  after Halloween, the Day of the Dead is sometimes
  thought to be a similar holiday, although the two
  are celebrated differently.This holiday is
  similar to All Saints Day.
• Scholars trace the origins of the modern holiday
  to indigenous observances dating back thousands
  of years and to an Aztec festival dedicated to a
  goddess called Mictecacihuatl. In Brazil, Dia de
  Finados is a public holiday that many Brazilians
  celebrate by visiting cemeteries and churches. In
  Spain, there are festivals and parades, and, at
  the end of the day, people gather at cemeteries
  and pray for their dead loved ones. Similar
  observances occur elsewhere in Europe, and
  similarly themed celebrations appear in many
  Asian and African cultures.
• www.wikipedia.com

11
Form, rhythm and rhyme

• The poem has quite a jaunty, marching rhythm with
  the first and second lines of each stanza rhyming
  and the third and fourth lines rhyming. This
  constant rhyme is throughout the whole poem,
  reflecting the people of his town and family
  marching by.
• It is made up of eight stanzas, consisting of
  four lines each.
• A lyric poem type of poetry which expresses
  personal/ emotional feelings, often to a metrical
  criteria, in ancient times used to be read along
  with the lyre (ancient form of string
  instrument).

12
Summary of the poem

• Stanza one - the main character of the poem hears
  howling in the moonlight and goes to the window.
  Dogs are howling and it is a full moon. Sets the
  scene for the unexpected to happen with full
  moon
• -he sees dead people of the town going past
  singularly or in twos.
• Stanza two -the dead keep passing , all towns
  folk who have died, the have come to live in the
  moonlight of the lane and then pass back into the
  shadows again
• Stanza three his school friends are marching as
  if they were still alive and playing soldiers
  with the poet but now they are slower and seem
  stiffer
• -the persona found it a very unusual sight
  when he saw people walking who had drowned at
  sea.
• Stanza four -young , standing up straight and
  old, bent and sick were all there, some of the
  people he really loved and wanted to speak to,
  others had only been dead a very short time and
  some he hadnt known had died.

13
Summary of the poem

• Stanza five the queue of these people marching
  was very long and they seemed very lonely
  individually
• -he really wanted to see one person and that was
  his long dead mother he sees her She lingered a
  moment, - she might not stay.
• Stanza six - He expresses his sadness at not
  having seen her for years and he seem to have
  really missed her wishing to place his head on
  her breast, have a cuddle with her hand pressing
  on his face when he was upset the persona is
  possibly going through some trial or problem and
  longs for comfort and advice from his dear, dead
  mother.

14
Summary of the poem

• Stanza seven the queue keeps moving on,
  resembling a moving bridge, crossing the moons
  bright light shining down on them and then going
  back into the shadows, all ages and all sexes,
  many had been dead so long that people had
  forgotten about them but not once they had been
  seen.
• Stanza eight the persona hears a bitter, sad
  laugh and the sound of tears after this Are the
  dead crying for the life they had and the people
  they have left? Strangely these sounds are
  followed by music so lofty and gay. Are the
  dead people going to a special festival or dance?
• The persona tries to remember this dream
  every morning of his life. However, was it really
  a dream?

15
THEMES

• How people miss those close to them who have
  passed on
• The strangeness of ones dreams and how they can
  bring comfort
• On a religious note the dead could have arisen
  as stated in the Bible and are ready to begin a
  new life

16
GET FLIRTY!!!

• Focus on the form of the poem , looking at the
  structure, punctuation, line lengths and the
  arrangement of the poems stanzas. How do these
  features add interest and meaning to the poem?
  Also examine the arrangements of the words,
  phrases and sentences in the poem.
• Examine the language used in the poem, looking
  at the meaning of words and whether they have
  negative or positive connotations.
• Look at the techniques, imagery and poetic
  language that has been used? How do these
  techniques bring out the main themes and ideas in
  the poem?
• How does the poet make use of rhyme, repetition
  and rhythm? Why does he do this?
• What are the poets main ideas that he brings out
  in the poem and how does he do this? Explain the
  feelings that the poet conveys throughout the
  poem. Describe the poets attitude to his
  subject. Does this change as the poem progresses?
  Carefully examine the tone throughout the poem
  and find vocabulary to back up your discussion.
• How do you react to this poem? Does it bring any
  particular thoughts to mind? Which poems would
  you compare this one with?

• F
• L
• I
• R
• T
• Y

17
Activities

• Rule up an eight frame chart and write down the
  activities, people mentioned and feeling that are
  evident in each stanza use quotes as reference
• Write three paragraph expressing the personas
  shock , surprise, wonder and sentimental
  feelings in the poem.

18

• The Irish poet William Allingham (1824-1889)
  numbered Dante Gabriel Rossetti among his
  friends Rossetti provided illustrations for one
  of this books.
• Dreams have frequently been used in literature to
  explore the subconscious or present visions, and
  this poem could be said to do both. While a
  moonlit march of the dead might seem to be a
  macabre gothic sight, Allingham does not present
  it like that. Though the figures pass through
  moonlight and shadow, they are defined as
  ordinary people Townsfellows, Schoolmates,
  Straight and handsome folk bent and weak too.
  There is nothing sinister about the crowd.
  Throughout, though, the narrator recognises that
  the people are dead he finds the drowned are
  the strangest sight, recognises that others are
  dead but a day and others he had not known
  were dead. The tone of the description suggests
  an interested observer rather than registering
  any shock or horror at the sight.
• It is only the sight of the dreamers mother
  which causes an emotional response. The sixth
  stanza demonstrates the feeling of loss which
  death has caused and the longing for maternal
  comfort now denied the narrator. The penultimate
  stanza withdraws from that emotion and close
  focus and sees the whole group again, while the
  final stanza, elongated by a line, shows the
  dreamer striving to recall the night-time
  vision, rather than dismiss it.

19
Compare with

• Because I Could Not Stop for Death Emily
  Dickinson
• Because I Liked You Better A. E. Housman
• Song Tears, Idle Tears Alfred, Lord Tennyson
• A Quoi Bon Dire Charlotte Mew
• Find the links between each of the above poems
  and A Dream. Write a paragraph comparing each.
• One Art Elizabeth Bishop
• Friend Hone Tuwhare
• Times Fool Ruth Pitter
• Cold in the Earth Emily Brontë
• from The Triumph of Time A. C. Swinburne