Whither is fled the visionary gleam?
— William Wordsworth, ‘Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood’ (1804)
Where is it now, the glory and the dream?”
Ah, Master Dyer, as the Prophets say, the old Men shall dream Dreames and the young Men shall see Visions and you are young still.”
— Peter Ackroyd, Hawksmoor (Hamish Hamilton, 1985)
Ah! Thel is like a watry bow. and like a parting cloud.
— William Blake, The Book of Thel (1791)
Like a reflection in a glass. like shadows in the water.
Like dreams of infants. like a smile upon an infant’s face,
Like the dove’s voice, like transient day, like music in the air”
Hi, Ingrid of Experiments in Fiction here, glad to be back as your host after some time away! For today’s prompt, I want to explore visionary poetry, and the poetry of dream. I chose the above quotes, as they explore the relationshipbetween vision, dream, and poetry (Wordsworth); between vision, dream and age (Hawksmoor); and between dream and childhood (Blake). In Wordsworth’s poem, the poet is saddened by his loss of youthful visionary ardour, but, as the poem progresses, comes to accept in its place a certain wisdom and sense of harmony, both with nature and himself:
“We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind
In the primal sympathy
Which having been must ever be;
In the soothing thoughts that spring
Out of human suffering;
In the faith that looks through death,
In years that bring the philosophic mind.”
It is a sentiment with which I can identify, especially having returned recently (like Wordsworth) to the Lake District landscapes of my youth: less light-of-foot, and carrying all the learning, sadness and wisdom of the intervening years. In the progression from visionary to dreamer, the poet’s craft is not forgotten, but rather transmuted “into something rich and strange” (to quote Shakespeare, The Tempest, 1.2.403).
Our hopes, desires and visions in time metamorphose into rich and carefully-crafted dreams, which I believe make for great poetry. After all, as Wordsworth states in the aforementioned poem:
“Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life’s Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar”
The same idea is examined in the Hawksmoor quote, with the older Sir Christopher Wren poking fun at the young architect Nicholas Hawksmoor: the joke is turned upon its head, however, as the action of the novel unfolds, and the visionary landscape takes over from the concrete world of those obsessed with measurements and rationality. It is an idea inspired by Blake, who notes in There Is No Natural Religion (1788) that:
“He who sees the Infinite in all things sees God. He who sees the Ratio only sees himself only.”
This is a philosophy to which I cleave, and through which I find the mental freedom I need in order to write poetry.
The Challenge
For this prompt, write a poem inspired by a vision, dream, or both. If you want, you can return to Blake’s “dreams of infants” – perhaps you remember a recurring dream (or nightmare) from childhood which might inspire your poem. Or write about a more recent dream which affected you in some way. If you have ever been fortunate enough to have seen visions, don’t hold back – write about them, let them inspire your muse. I want this to be an expansive, rather than restrictive exercise, so please, take Blake’s advice:
“Damn braces; Bless relaxes” (Proverbs of Hell, 1793)
In other words – use any form you choose, and write whatever words you feel, so long as they are influenced by dreams and/or visions of past, present or future!
And just a reminder! For the first time ever we’ll host OLN LIVE twice this month, in hopes of being more inclusive across time zones: Thursday, January 19 from 3 to 4 PM EST – AND Saturday, January 21 from 10 to 11 AM EST: we hope to see you there!
I will see you on the poetry trail…
The Rules
For anyone who is new to dVerse, follow these simple rules to participate:
- Post your 1 poem to your blog.
- Mention or tag dVerse in your post, and link back to this post.
- Paste the link to your post in the Mr Linky widget below.
- Read and comment on the other poems linked up: we all come here to have our poems read!
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Hello Ingrid, glad to see you prompting again. I enjoyed writing this… if you have a small beer for me I would be much obliged.
Ingrid said:
It’s good to be back, Björn, thank you! One small beer, coming up…
Ingrid said:
Good evening, and welcome to the bar! We have a selection of light snacks available, as well as cocktails, wine and mocktails! Pull up a seat and enjoy some fine poetry…
kim881 said:
Welcome back Ingrid and thanks for the prompt. I hope I’ve risen to the challenge. And good evening poets!
Ingrid said:
Hi Kim, good to be here, and I look forward to reading your poem, and everyone else’s – I expected to be inspired!
sanaarizvi said:
Welcome back, Ingrid! 😍 Just posted my poem to the challenge, hot chocolate for me please.
I look forward to reading what everyone comes up with ~ Happy Tuesday! ❤️❤️
Ingrid said:
Hot chocolate: perfect for a cold winter’s night! I will add some cream and marshmallows 😊 it’s good to be back, Sanaa! 💕
rogblog666 said:
hi Ingrid,
rothpoetry said:
Welcome back, Ingrid! I missed seeing you on d’Verse! Thanks for hosting. What an interesting challenge you present!
Ingrid said:
Good to be back, Dwight, thank you! I hope you enjoy the challenge…
rothpoetry said:
I have… very much! I took it on a slightly different slant!
Ingrid said:
Great! I am intrigued to read your poem…
rothpoetry said:
Thank you very much. I am glad you enjoyed it!
rogblog666 said:
hi Ingrid
nice to see your words here again. will not be posting a poem of mine this time, other wise occupied. just wanted to say hello to all.
hello all
read you all soon
rog
Ingrid said:
Hi Rog – it’s good to be back – I will see you somewhere on the poetry trail!
Ingrid said:
Thank you to all who have visited the bar already! It is getting late here in the UK, so I am going to retire for the night and leave the bar open…I will be back again to read tomorrow 🙂
msjadeli said:
Hello Ingrid and All. Was out much of the afternoon and missed the pub opening. Welcome back, Ingrid! Happy to see you here again. Writing to dreams is something I’ve been doing a lot of lately. Will definitely try to write to your lovely prompt.
Ingrid said:
It’s good to be back, Lisa 😊 you’re welcome to post a poem you’ve already written if it answers the prompt!
msjadeli said:
OK 🙂
coalblack said:
Hello Ingrid! I will see what I can come up with. 🙂 (i love the oldie music!)
Ingrid said:
Glad to hear it! I look forward to reading your poem 🙂
~just a thought said:
Thank you Ingrid for the excellent prompt. I’ve submitted to Mr. Linky and looking forward to reading through that list. Appreciate the open bar! Having a sour…
Ingrid said:
Hope you enjoyed it, thank you!
Rob Kistner said:
Wonderful prompt Ingrid, thank you. I am sharing a poem, recounting as best I can, a dream I have had reoccur in the several years since my Pacemaker implant. The first time the dream occurred was the night I was in the hospital, recovering from the surgery.
Ingrid said:
I am fascinated by recurring dreams, Rob, and look forward to reading your poem!
M Jay Dixit said:
Hi, Ingrid. I’m so glad to see you here again, dear friend. I missed you, as I’m sure all of us did and you’re back with a bang! This prompt is awesome. As I was writing my piece, I was getting the vibes of Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King. Both my favorites. Thank you for this and Happy New Year!
Ingrid said:
It’s good to be back, Jay, thank you! Glad this prompt provided plenty of inspiration…
kittysverses said:
Hi Ingrid,
Happy to see you back here. Thanks for hosting. I’ve linked two of my poems (one written yesterday), which coincides with the theme.
Ingrid said:
Thank you, Aishwara, I look forward to reading!
kittysverses said:
🙂
kenhume31 said:
Hi Ingrid. Just posted my contribution over on Mr. Linky there. Hope ye enjoy the read! 🙏😁🤞📖
Ingrid said:
I look forward to reading, thank you!
pvcann said:
Thank you Ingrid, a fabulous prompt for this time of year – looking ahead in many ways and guises. Welcome back. I’ll have a whiskey please, the drink of dreamers.
Ingrid said:
Cheers Paul! 🥃
pvcann said:
🙂
merrildsmith said:
Hi Ingrid! It’s great to see you back. I just couldn’t get my act together yesterday. 😅 I love the theme. I often remember my dreams, but I’ve written more about my dreams in general. I’m still catching up on the quadrille post, so I’ll be reading these over the next few days. I think a strong, black coffee would be great.
Ingrid said:
Coming right up Merril! ☕️ thanks for visiting the bar 😊
poetisatinta said:
Hi sorry I cheated with this one 🙂
Ingrid said:
So long as you answered the prompt and linked up! 😊
poetisatinta said:
Hi yes but I’d already written it 😃
Ingrid said:
That’s no problem!
poetisatinta said:
❤
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