‘I Dreamed in a Dream’: A Poem by Walt Whitman

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘I Dreamed in a Dream’ is a short poem by Walt Whitman. As the repetition of ‘dream’ in Whitman’s title suggests, this poem combines the two principal meanings of ‘dream’: ambition and illusion. Whitman dreamt of a utopian city where ‘robust love’ triumphed and flourished, above all else.

‘I Dreamed in a Dream’ by Walt Whitman

I dream’d in a dream, I saw a city invincible to the
attacks of the whole of the rest of the earth;
I dream’d that was the new City of Friends;
Nothing was greater there than the quality of robust
love—it led the rest;
It was seen every hour in the actions of the men of
that city,
And in all their looks and words.

If you enjoyed Whitman’s ‘I Dreamed in a Dream’, you might also enjoy his classic poem and declaration of selfhood, ‘Song of Myself’.