Who first said "false as dreams?" Not one who saw <br /> Into the wild and wondrous world they sway; <br />No thinker who hath read their mystic law; <br /> No Poet who hath weaved them in his lay. <br /> <br />Else had he known that through the human breast <br /> Cross and recross a thousand fleeting gleams, <br />That, passed unnoticed in the day's unrest, <br /> Come out at night, like stars, in shining dreams; <br /> <br />That minds too busy or to dull to mark <br /> The dim suggestions of the noisier hours, <br />By dreams in the deep silence of the dark, <br /> Are roused at midnight with their folded powers. <br /> <br />Like that old fount beneath Dodona's oaks, <br /> That, dry and voiceless in the garish noon, <br />When the calm night arose with modest looks, <br /> Caught with full wave the sparkle of the moon. <br /> <br />If, now and then, a ghastly shape glide in, <br /> And fright us with its horrid gloom or glee, <br />It is the ghost of some forgotten sin <br /> We failed to exorcise on bended knee. <br /> <br />And that sweet face which only yesternight <br /> Came to thy solace, dreamer (did'st thou read <br />The blessing in its eyes of tearful light?) <br /> Was but the spirit of some gentle deed. <br /> <br />Each has its lesson; for our dreams in sooth, <br /> Come they in shape of demons, gods, or elves, <br />Are allegories with deep hearts of truth <br /> That tell us solemn secrets of ourselves.<br /><br />Henry Timrod<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/dreams-17/
