Post A Poem A Day – Page 15 – Interesting Literature

‘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

‘On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity’: A Poem by John Milton

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Written in December 1629 when John Milton (1608-74) was still in his early twenties, ‘On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity’ is about – well, the title says it all, really: the Nativity, or birth of Jesus Christ. As Christmas approaches, this long religious poem is the perfect way to get yourself into the festive mood.

On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity

This is the month, and this the happy morn,

Wherein the Son of Heav’n’s eternal King,

Of wedded Maid, and Virgin Mother born,

Our great redemption from above did bring;

For so the holy sages once did sing,

That he our deadly forfeit should release,

And with his Father work us a perpetual peace.

‘Ode to a Nightingale’: A Poem by John Keats

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘Ode to a Nightingale’ was admired by contemporary critics and reviewers of Keats’s work. According to one account it was written by Keats under a plum tree in the garden of Keats House, London in May 1819. Keats was inspired by hearing the sound of birdsong and penned this poem in praise of the nightingale. Like ‘Bright Star’ it is a brilliant poem about mortality and the lure of death and escape. F. Scott Fitzgerald took the phrase ‘tender is the night’ from this poem and used it as the title for his 1934 novel.

‘I Sing the Body Electric’: A Poem by Walt Whitman

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘I Sing the Body Electric’ is perhaps Walt Whitman’s best-known poem, along with ‘Song of Myself’. ‘I Sing the Body Electric’ appeared in the original 1855 edition of Whitman’s collection, Leaves of Grass. It does what its title (added later) announces, with Whitman writing about his own body and its various components – but concluding that these are also part of his soul, since soul and body are one.

I Sing the Body Electric

I sing the body electric,

The armies of those I love engirth me and I engirth them,

They will not let me off till I go with them, respond to them,

And discorrupt them, and charge them full with the charge of the soul.

‘The Banks o’ Doon’: A Poem by Robert Burns

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

A short song, ‘Ye Banks an’ Braes o’ Bonnie Doon’ (also known as ‘The Banks o’ Doon’) is a Robert Burns poem about looking at the natural world while one is full of worries and cares because one’s love has been untrue. The natural world continues to be fair and carefree, the birds sing merrily, but the speaker of the poem is filled with woe.

The Banks o’ Doon

Ye banks and braes o’ bonie Doon,
How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair?
How can ye chant, ye little birds,
And I sae weary fu’ o’ care!
Thou’ll break my heart, thou warbling bird,
That wantons thro’ the flowering thorn:
Thou minds me o’ departed joys,
Departed never to return.