The Slave's dream | Summary & Analysis

Beside the ungathered rice he lay,

His sickle in his hand;

His breast was bare, his matted hair

 Was buried in the sand.

Again, in the mist and shadow of sleep,

He saw his Native Land.

Wide through the landscape of his dreams

 The lordly Niger flowed;

Beneath the palm-trees on the plain

 Once more a king he strode;

And heard the tinkling caravans

 Descend the mountain-road.

He saw once more his dark-eyed queen

 Among her children stand;

They clasped his neck, they kissed his cheeks,

 They held him by the hand!--

A tear burst from the sleeper's lids

 And fell into the sand.

And then at furious speed he rode

 Along the Niger's bank;

His bridle-reins were golden chains,

 And, with a martial clank,

At each leap he could feel his scabbard of steel

Smiting his stallion's flank.

Before him, like a blood-red flag,

 The bright flamingoes flew;

From morn till night he followed their flight,

 O'er plains where the tamarind grew,

Till he saw the roofs of Caffre huts,

 And the ocean rose to view.

At night he heard the lion roar,

 And the hyena scream,

And the river-horse, as he crushed the reeds

 Beside some hidden stream;

And it passed, like a glorious roll of drums,

 Through the triumph of his dream.

The forests, with their myriad tongues,

 Shouted of liberty;

And the Blast of the Desert cried aloud,

 With a voice so wild and free,

That he started in his sleep and smiled

 At their tempestuous glee.

He did not feel the driver's whip,

 Nor the burning heat of day;

For Death had illumined the Land of Sleep,

 And his lifeless body lay

A worn-out fetter, that the soul

 Had broken and thrown away!

The Poet

Probably the best loved of American poets the world over is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He was born on February 27th1807 in Portland, Maine. At the age of 22 he was launched into his career as a college professor. In 1834, he was appointed to a professorship at Havard. Upon the death of his first wife, he came to Cambridge and to the new professorship. He was given honourary degrees at the great universities of Oxford and Cambridge, invited to Windsor by Queen Victoria and called by request upon the Prince of Wales. He died on March 24th 1882.

Introduction

'The Slave's dream', written in 1842 by the white man H. W. Longfellow, tells of the final dream of a black slave before his death. It is set on a plantation in America where the slave has stopped in the middle of a day's work, giving up hope of freedom in life, believing only in freedom by death. 'I, too' was written later than 'The Slave's Dream by Langston Hughes. It is about the hope for equality of a black servant after the abolishment of slavery in America. Written during the abolitionism movement, 'The Slave's Dream' helps to raise awareness of the immoral injustices black people had to face. This reflects the mood of the era as people at this time were trying to change the public's opinion of slavery and get it abolished. As the most important people at this time were whites, Longfellow must have used the colour of his skin to get people to listen to his point of view through his poems. H. W. Longfellow uses this poem to show that black people had lives before slavery, but that the white race had taken them away. The type of life that followed the taking of black people's freedom is reflected in the poem's rhyme scheme and stanza patterns. The poem has a very rigid structure. The rhyme scheme is regular and the lengths of lines have a repetitive pattern.

Summary

Probably the best loved of American poets the world over is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He was born on February 27th 1807 in Portland, Maine. At the age of 22 he was launched into his career as a college professor. In 1834, he was appointed to a professorship at Havard. Upon the death of his first wife, he came to Cambridge and to the new professorship. He was given honourary degrees at the great universities of Oxford and Cambridge, invited to Windsor by Queen Victoria and called by request upon the Prince of Wales. He died on March 24th 1882. 

”Of all the suns of the New England morning,” says Van Wyck Brooks, “he was the largest in his golden sweetness.” 

A slave is one who is owned by another, and deprived of all rights and freedoms. The slave is dependent on the whim of the owner, who may generally force him to service and in principle, may usually dispose of his life. The slaves in southern U.S. were forbidden by law to receive any education or acquire property and thus could rarely attain on their own, the means to buy their freedom.Aside from domestic work, slaves were also instruments of production on farms, in mines and in factories owned by the master. The master provided them food and clothing. Punishments for misdemeanour were common.

The Slave‟s Dream by H.W. Longfellow is a poem about one such slave who escaped despite the odds. The poem begins with the Slave lying on bare earth. Too exhausted to continue his work of gathering rice, the Slave was in the dreamy swoon of sleep, bare-chested, his tangled, unkempt hair buried in the sand, still clutching his sickle. In the mysterious shadow of sleep, he dreams of Africa, his home, his Native Land. 

In his dream the slave sees the river Niger flow with all its majesty. He sees himself as the king he was. Onecan imagine a valiant warrior king striding through the plain, beneath priest like palm trees, listening the distant tinkling of caravans down a mountain road. 

In his dream, his mind wanders to his wife, the dark eyed queen of his land, standing amongst their children. He sees his children embrace him, kiss his cheeks, their little fingers clasping his hands. He does not know where they are, dead or alive, or whether he will ever see them again. His worry and longing for his family makes a tear drop from his eyes onto the sand. 

He dreams of how he used to ride along the banks of the Niger with the wind on his face; the rich king of his land with golden bridle reins clanking as though he were going to war. Each time his horse would leap, he could feel his sword‘s steel sheath strike the horse‘s hide. Then, he was the one holding the chains, now he is bound by them. Before him the flamingos like a blood red flag soared through the air. He followed them from dawn to dusk along the course of the Niger, over plains where the tamarind grew. He continued his hunt till he reached a village of caffre huts, where the Niger emptied into the ocean.

He dreams of how he heard the lion roar over its prey at night, the hyena scream and the sound of a river horse trampling reeds by an unseen stream. These familiar yet distant sounds passed through his mind like a great drum roll heralding a victorious king.The forests were not bound by the will of another and the innumerable voices of the forest shouted of liberty. The Desert was its own master, untamed and free and when he hears it cry in its wild voice he starts in his sleep. In his sleep, he smiles at their exaltation, almost as though he is going to join them in their ecstatic delight.

The driver, a merciless superior in-charge, whips him for being asleep when he is supposed to work and the sun beats down ruthlessly upon him. But he is stolid towards the pain for Death had brightened up and beckoned him into the Land of eternal Sleep. His soul had left the confines of his body.

Analysis

How did the slaves feel when they were enslaved? What was their escape from the prison that they were mentally held in? Longfellow uses his poem, A Slave‘s Dream, to convey their place of peace while they had to endure those grueling conditions. One way he conveys this is through diction. He shows that the place of the slave‘s peace was home. ―in the mist of the shadow of sleep, he saw his Native Land…Once more a king hev strode…He saw once more his dark-eyed queen, among her children stand they clasped his neck, they kissed his cheek, they held him by the hand!‖ (Longfellow).This explains how he felt that the place he would long for is home. How he reminisced of Africa and his family that was there. He conveyed how important his wife was to him by calling her a queen. He explained how he felt about being there, he felt important like a king. He missed his kids, their touch, and their embrace. He missed everything and while he thought of that he was at peace. But that is not the only thing Longfellow said would be the peace of a slave, death was another relief theory through diction that Longfellow mingled with.

What would put a slave to ease when he is down? What would put ease to the pain? Longfellow explains that death would help ease the pain of a slave through diction. ―That he started in his sleep and smiled at their tempestuous glee. He did not feel the driver‘s whip, nor the burning heat of the day; for Death had illumined the Land of Sleep, and his lifeless body lay a worn-out fetter, that the soul had broken and thrown away!‖

(Longfellow).

He conveyed how he smiled as he was near death. Instead of saying that he died, he explained the place known as the Land of Sleep. This suggested how it would be a place of rest and where he could recuperate from the struggle. Longfellow used the Land of Sleep to convey how important, big, and open the place was. Because when one thinks of land they think of a place vast, far, and wide. To say a place would have made it secluded and not welcoming. Longfellow wanted the audience to understand how comforting that land was and how it embraced a torn soul. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wanted to establish to his audience, through diction, the place in which a torture soul would find ease and comfort in his poem, A Slave‘s Dream

In order to improve any type of literary work, certain writing techniques are used. Pathos is used to appeal to the audience‘s emotions. Since diction is considered as word choice, it causes the author to consider what type of context would be the correct one to use for their audience. With the use of pathos, diction, and imagery, Longfellow was able to provide the audience with visuals of what the slave felt and dreamt of. If Longfellow did not implement these writing techniques within his poem, then he would not have conveyed these things to the audience as effectively as he did.

Longfellow uses pathos to try to convince to the audience how the slave is filled with sorrow but soon finds happiness. ―They clasped his neck, they kissed his cheek, they held him by the hand!‖ (Longfellow, 15-16) 

When Longfellow states the slave‘s reminiscing of these actions of affection, he show the audience how much the slave misses his family. ―A tear burst from the sleeper‘s lids and fell into the sand.‖ (Longfellow, 17-18)

Since a tear had not only appeared but ―burst‖ from the slave‘s eyes, it was clearly insinuated that the slave was desperately longing for his family to be reunited with him once more. ―That he started in his sleep and smiled.‖

(Longfellow, 41) 

Since Longfellow said that he smiled, he was making it clearly evident to the audience that the slave had finally attained happiness. Even though pathos helped to convince the audience of the author‘s

main ideas, it only appealed to the audience‘s emotional side.

Diction was used in ―The Slave‘s Dream‖ to help in successfully describing to the audience the author‘s reasoning for creating their main ideas. ―He saw his Native Land. Wide through the landscape of his dreams.‖ (Longfellow, 6-7) 

In order to not confuse the audience, the author kept his descriptions of the dreams closely related to each other. When Longfellow was describing how the slave was dreaming of his ―Native Land‖, he stated that the slave viewed them through a ―landscape of dreams‖. ―And then at furious speed he rode.‖ (Longfellow, 19) 

Longfellow showed to the audience how the slave was angry by using the term ―furious‖ to

describe the speed at which he was riding. ―Through the triumph of his dream.‖ 

(Longfellow, 36) 

By using the word ―triumph‖, he shows the audience how the slave had succeeded in accomplishing his dream. Diction may have done a wonderful job at making the poem more understandable for the audience, but it could not provide what imagery did.

Imagery supplied ―The Slave‘s Dream‖ audience with realistic and interesting views which are not present in all literary works. ―Beside the ungathered rice he lay.‖ (Longfellow, 1) This quote provides the audience with enough description to allow the reader to visualize what is occurring in the poem as if they were actually with the character at the time. ―His breast was bare, his matted hair.‖ (Longfellow,3) 

When Longfellow gives a detailed outer description of the slave‘s appearance, he allows the audience to be able to imagine how the character may appear to the audience if they were real. ―And the Blast of the Desert cried aloud.‖ (Longfellow,39) 

This quote may cause the audience to take a moment and ponder what this statement could possibly mean. It makes the reader wonder how the ―Blast of the Desert‖ would sound like when it cried. Imagery provided Longfellow with the powerful tool of forming many different images in the audience‘s head. It also causedthem to actually think of what a quote could have meant or of how it was at all significant to the quality of the author‘s poem. Imagery aided in conveying the author‘s main ideas to the audience.

If Longfellow did not implement these writing techniques within his poem, then he would not have conveyed these things to the audience as effectively as he did. Every literary work consists of at least one writing technique. Without these techniques, the writing would be plain, boring, and not even worth reading. In successfully using pathos, diction, and imagery within his poem, Longfellow was able to get his main ideas across to the audience and give his paper an appearance of high quality.

Poetic devices

This is a great anti-slavery poem by Longfellow. In it, he describes an African king who is lying in a field of rice, bound for life as a slave.

There are many metaphors in the poem. (Sleep is compared to mist and shadow):

Again, in the mist and shadow of sleep,

 He saw his Native Land

Wide through the landscape of his dreams

 The lordly Niger flowed;

: His dreams are compared to a landscape.

Simile:

Before him, like a blood-red flag,

 The bright flamingoes flew;

:  He compares the flamingoes to a flag.

Personification

The forests, with their myriad tongues,

 Shouted of liberty;

And the Blast of the Desert cried aloud,

 With a voice so wild and free,

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