I Dream'D I Lay by Robert Burns
The speaker dreams of lying amid flowers, sunlight, birdsong, and a clear falling stream, before the sky darkens, whirlwinds rage through the woods, and aged trees struggle above a swelling, muddy wave. This vision reflects the speaker’s life: its early morning seemed full of pleasure and flowery happiness, but storms later destroyed those delights. Though fickle fortune promised well and fulfilled poorly, depriving the speaker of many joys and hopes, the speaker remains sustained by a heart capable of enduring hardship.
By Robert Burns · First published 1792 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Scottish Poetry, Romantic Poetry · 166 words
First lines
I dream'd I lay where flowers were springing / Gaily in the sunny beam; / List'ning to the wild birds singing, / By a falling crystal stream: / Straight the sky grew black and daring; / Thro' the woods the whirlwinds rave; / Tress with aged arms were warring, / O'er the swelling drumlie wave.
Such was my life's deceitful morning, / Such the pleasures I enjoyed: / But lang or noon, loud tempests storming / A' my flowery bliss destroy'd. / Tho' fickle fortune has deceiv'd me- / She promis'd fair, and perform'd but ill, / Of mony a joy and hope bereav'd me- / I bear a heart shall support me still.
Similar titles
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- Fickle Fortune A Fragment by Robert Burns
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Genres
- Lyric Poetry — The work is a short, highly musical first-person poem expressing an inward emotional response through concentrated imagery and regular stanzaic verse.
- Scottish Poetry — Burns employs Scots vocabulary and idiom, including words such as 'lang,' 'A',' 'mony,' and 'drumlie,' placing the poem within the Scottish literary and vernacular-poetry tradition.
- Romantic Poetry — Its emphasis on subjective feeling, dream vision, sublime natural violence, disappointment, and individual endurance strongly anticipates and participates in Romantic poetic concerns.
- Pastoral Poetry — The opening presents an idyllic natural landscape of flowers, sunshine, birdsong, and a clear stream, though this pastoral scene is deliberately disrupted by storm and disillusionment.
Tags
Scottish poetry · lyric poem · dream vision · nature imagery · flowers · sunlight · birdsong · crystal stream · storm · whirlwinds · darkened sky · woods
What this Textopian page supports
I Dream'D I Lay is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Burns, dated 1792 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Robert Burns
- Date: 1792 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Scottish Poetry, Romantic Poetry, Pastoral Poetry, Dream Vision Poetry
- Length: 166 words
- Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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