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DREAMS, by             Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography

Linda Pastan's poem "Dreams" is a poignant exploration of the elusive and haunting nature of dreams, suggesting that they may be the closest experience we have to an afterlife. Through a series of rich metaphors and vivid imagery, Pastan delves into the ways in which dreams connect us to our past, our losses, and our unfulfilled desires, making them a space where the boundaries of time and identity blur.

The poem opens with a striking assertion: "Dreams are the only afterlife we know." This line sets the tone for the entire poem, positioning dreams as a realm where the living can reconnect with what has been lost or left behind. By calling dreams "the only afterlife we know," Pastan suggests that they offer a form of continuity beyond the waking world—a place where memories, past selves, and those who have passed away still exist in some form.

Pastan then evokes the image of children: "the place where the children we were / rock in the arms of the children we have become." This beautifully captures the way dreams allow us to revisit and reconcile our past selves with who we are now. The metaphor of rocking suggests a comforting, nurturing space within dreams, where different stages of our lives can coexist and embrace each other. It highlights the cyclical nature of life and how our experiences continue to shape us, even as we grow older.

The imagery of migration follows, as dreams are described as being "as many as leaves in their migrations, / as birds whose deaths we learn of by the single feather left behind." Here, Pastan compares dreams to natural phenomena that are transient and fleeting, emphasizing their ephemerality. The "single feather" left behind as a clue to a bird's death serves as a metaphor for the remnants of dreams that linger upon waking—a "particle of sleep caught in the eye." This suggests that while dreams may be elusive and hard to fully grasp, they leave behind traces that continue to affect us.

The metaphor of sand and the sea further illustrates the irretrievability of dreams: "They are as irretrievable as sand when the sea creeps up / its long knife glittering in its teeth to claim its patrimony." The sea, with its relentless, claiming force, represents the inevitability of time and how it erases the details of our dreams, just as it reclaims the sand on the shore. The image of the "long knife" suggests both beauty and danger, highlighting the tension between the allure of dreams and the pain of losing them upon waking.

The poem then shifts to a more personal reflection, as Pastan introduces a recurring dream of her father: "Sometimes my father in knickers and cap / waits on that shore / the dream of him a wound / not even morning can heal." This passage underscores the emotional power of dreams, particularly those involving loved ones who have passed away. The dream of her father, appearing in a nostalgic image from the past, is described as a "wound," indicating the deep, unresolved grief that persists even after the dream ends. The idea that morning cannot heal this wound suggests that the pain of loss lingers beyond the boundaries of sleep.

The following lines introduce the idea of the body in sleep: "The dog's legs pump in his sleep; / your closed eyelids flicker as the reel unwinds: / watcher and watched, archer and bull's eye." This imagery captures the physical manifestations of dreaming, where the body reacts to the events unfolding in the mind. The roles of "watcher and watched" and "archer and bull's eye" suggest the duality inherent in dreams—where we are both participants and observers, where our desires and fears play out within us, sometimes beyond our control.

The poem concludes with a strikingly vivid dream: "Last night I dreamed a lover in my arms / and woke innocent. / The sky was starry to the very rind, / his smile still burning there like the tail of a comet / that has just blazed by." This final dream is one of longing and desire, and the speaker wakes with a sense of innocence, perhaps implying a return to a state of purity or simplicity that dreams can sometimes evoke. The image of the starry sky and the comet's tail lingering in the sky reinforces the fleeting yet impactful nature of dreams, leaving behind a sense of wonder and loss.

In "Dreams," Linda Pastan masterfully captures the complexity and significance of dreams as a realm where past and present, loss and desire, come together. Through her evocative language and metaphorical richness, the poem explores how dreams serve as a form of afterlife, a place where we continue to encounter the people and experiences that have shaped us, even as they remain just beyond our grasp. The poem invites readers to reflect on the profound ways in which dreams influence our waking lives, leaving behind traces that linger long after the night has passed.


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