The Slave's Dream
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Commentary
For some reason, ‘Reverie of Mahomed…Tank’ reminded me of another dream poem, ‘The Slave’s Dream’ by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I guess it is the same idea of the poet trying to ‘live’ another person’s feelings, especially a person from a different culture/race. [An interesting twist to the theme, and not one I’d thought of -m.]
I think ‘The Slave’s dream’ is a great poem because of the way it draws the reader emotionally into itself…and the way it seems to control the emotions. Initially we feel pity, sadness, at the present condition of the slave, and then the nostalgic feeling of pride and glory when he thinks of his royal past. And finally, it ends on a note of triumph and hope.
— Raj
Links
Hope’s ‘Reverie of Mahomed’ was part of the current ‘Dream’ theme: poem #627
For a biography of Longfellow, see poem #172
Show 8 commentsHide comments
From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.
Haydn and Jeanne · 7 September 2002
Dear ?,
Saw the film Amistad last night and my wife told me about a very moving poem she used to read over end over again as a little girl. Then we found it on your web site. Thanks. The last verse is the most moving, the contrast between his former life and reality is stark. Haydn.
anne.milne · 14 February 2003
studied a long time ago at primary school-this poem made a deep impression. Great to re-read and re-think.
Rob Laking · 19 April 2003
I’ve just come back from hospital where my 87-year-old mother is, temporarily I think: she had a fall but it doesn’t seem that the injury is serious. Her greatest injury is simply old age. She has been drifting in and out of sleep she tells me and fragments of poetry and blank verse she learned as a girl at school or a young woman come into her head unbidden. Amongst others, she remembered the opening stanza of this Longfellow poem. I wrote it down, telling her I would look it up (God bless Google). I agree with another comment: it’s of its time in sentimentality but an honest attempt to see through another’s eyes and in the end not a sad poem - triumphal almost. I liked it because she remembered it, and it gave her pleasure.
Rob
John Black · 2 May 2003
Rob Laking’s comment brought a tear to my eye when I read it this lunchtime. I visited my Mum last week in the residential home where she has lived for the past few years. She is 82 and sadly well past her best before date. She was recalling her favourite poem and claimed I had a book containing it in the loft and asked that I found it. OK, so I’ve found it now but just in case I thought I would do a search on the web.
The final line of Rob’s comment just seemed so appropriate….
John Black
Mr Denis Hayward · 29 July 2003
Remembered snippets of this poem from Primary School and was thrilled to find it again - made a big impression on a small child
Jamal Mohamed (jmohamed) · 27 October 2005
I was talking to my wife couple of hours ago about a Poem I read in my Primary School that left an indelible mark in my mind….thanks for helping me relive my child hood memory ‘The Slave’s dream’ by Henry Wadsworth.
Ajit Hutheesing · 11 November 2006
I am not sure why this email is addressed to ssiyer since the website suggested it was Rajarshri Bandyopadhyay. But, it does not really matter.
I grew up in Bombay and other parts of India. My mother was Jawaharlal Nehru’s sister, Krishna Nehru. The Nehru family had been close to Rabindranath Tagore and Sarojini Naidu - both great poets - and I was made to recite their poetry as India was going through its struggle for independence. We also read many other great poets and literary giants - Keats, Yeats, Longfellow, John Donne - and on and on.
As an 8,9,10 year old, one of the poems that stuck in my head was The Slave’s Dream. It reminded us again and again of the giants of India’s freedom movement who were subjected to servitude in prison - I lost one of my relatives, Ranjit Pandit (Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit’s husband) following a prolonged imprisonment, and almost lost my father, Raja Hutheesing, at the same time. Through all this, poems like The Slaves Dream put in perspective our losses - enlightened Indians being treated as common criminals. But, in the end, it was a human experience that may well have built the character of our leaders - if not the wisdom of their political and economic policies !!
I have been searching for the The Slave’s Dream for many years, and I am not sure why the web did not deliver it to me until today. I thank Rajarshi and others who brought this beautiful poem back to me in all its literary and emotional content.
I hope I shall be in contact with those of you who share not only the values represented in this lament from Longfellow - but in the application of these to illuminate the current predicament of declining social and economic values which we have to endure.
Best.
Ajit
Maria V · 8 December 2006
i always remember this poem, we learned it in school,and all through the years i thought about it often,sometimes it can relate to things we go through in life,thanks for posting it.