19 pages • 38 minutes read
Helen Hunt JacksonDreams
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1884A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“October’s Bright Blue Weather” by Helen Hunt Jackson (1872)
This poem, set in the gloomy season of autumn, is an important companion piece to “Dreams.” Its lavish, romantic reverie about the striking beauty of the world in the fall balances the gloom and gothic sorrows of “Dreams.” In celebrating the gaudy splendor of an October afternoon, Jackson reveals her fondness for the world despite her private agonies.
“We dream—It is good we are dreaming” by Emily Dickinson (1863)
Closely associated with Jackson because of their long friendship and involved correspondence, Dickinson here weighs in on the power of dreams to provide respite from the harrowing realities of everyday living. A comparison of the two poems might discuss Dickinson’s highly idiosyncratic and eccentric prosody against Jackson’s more conventional form.
“Threnody” by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1847)
Jackson studied Emerson’s complex transcendental philosophy. An iconic figure in 19th-century American literature, Emerson praised Jackson’s poetry in reviews. Here, Emerson, grounded in the same Unitarian faith as Jackson, explores his grief after the death of his young son. Without evoking the Christian afterlife, Emerson agrees with Jackson on the feelings of vulnerability and deep sorrow inflicted by death.
Further Literary Resources
“Review, Helen Hunt Jackson: A Literary Life (Kate Phillips)” by Matthew F. Bokovoy (2003)
This review of a landmark biography of Jackson is an extensive and helpful look at the literary reputation and legacy of Jackson herself. The review uses Jackson’s relocation West to suggest that rootlessness and the fragility of the home are at the heart of Jackson’s most emotional poems, including “Dreams.”
“The Literary Career of Helen Hunt Jackson: A Study in American Idealism and Realism” by Wendy Scribner (1989)
This article sees Jackson’s work as a conflict between her admiration for the spiritual idealism of Emerson and her commitment to her era’s embrace of realism, most notably in her appreciation of Harriet Beecher Stowe. Although the article focuses largely on Jackson’s fiction, the same argument can be applied to the dream world and real-time tension at the heart of “Dreams.”
“Nineteenth Century American Metaphysical Poets” by Akram Habeeb (2015)
This is a close look at the mysticism and spiritualism at the emotional core of Jackson’s poetry, including “Dreams.” Habeeb argues that in exploring the transcendental dimension, Jackson (as well as Dickinson) rejected the era’s perception of women poets as frivolous and sentimental.
Listen to Poem
Because of its tidy length and its gloomy tone, the poem has occasioned several dramatic readings archived on YouTube. Too often, however, the readings play up the Gothic elements, ignoring the emotional tragedies at the heart of Jackson’s sonnet. Poet David Novak’s quietly dramatic rendition is more in tune with Jackson’s subtle sonic effects.
