By the Stream. Paul Laurence Dunbar,

Transcription

1 By the stream I dream in calm delight, and watch as in a glass, How the clouds like crowds of snowy-hued and white-robed maidens pass, And the water into ripples breaks and sparkles as it spreads, Like a host of armored knights with silver helmets on their heads. And I deem the stream an emblem fit of human life may go, For I find a mind may sparkle much and yet but shallows show, And a soul may glow with myriad lights and wondrous mysteries, When it only lies a dormant thing and mirrors what it sees.

2 Paul Laurence Dunbar set the stage for the Harlem Renaissance. His friend James Weldon Johnson said, "Paul Laurence Dunbar stands out as the first poet from the Negro race in the United States to show a combined mastery over poetic material and poetic technique, to reveal innate literary distinction in what he wrote, and to maintain a high level of performance." Although he was sick for most of his life, he wrote several novels and published three collections of poetry. He turned to alcohol to cope with his illness, which ruined his marriage. Dunbar died of pneumonia at the age of 34. (from poetryfoundation.org)

3 This poem is a pastoral, in which rural life and landscapes are idealized. Dunbar describes a peaceful, romantic life beside the stream. Although this poem rhymes and has a rhythmic structure, it is not a sonnet.

4 By the Stream is structured as one stanza of eight lines, with rhyming couplets. It follows a traditional AABBCCDD rhyme scheme. And I deem the stream an emblem fit of human life may go, C For I find a mind may sparkle much and yet but shallows show, C And a soul may glow with myriad lights and wondrous mysteries, D When it only lies a dormant thing and mirrors what it sees. D

5 This poem features a specific rhythm in which the first syllable of each line is stressed, followed by seven more feet. By the stream I dream in calm delight, and watch as in a glass, How the clouds like crowds of snowy-hued and whiterobed maidens pass,

6 Dunbar incorporates several examples of assonance, which enhances the rhymes. By the stream I dream in calm delight How the clouds like crowds For I find a mind may sparkle

7 Dunbar uses language to create a tone of peacefulness and nostalgia. By the stream I dream in calm delight, and watch as in a glass, How the clouds like crowds of snowy-hued and white-robed maidens pass, And the water into ripples breaks and sparkles as it spreads, Like a host of armored knights with silver helmets on their heads. And I deem the stream an emblem fit of human life may go, For I find a mind may sparkle much and yet but shallows show, And a soul may glow with myriad lights and wondrous mysteries, When it only lies a dormant thing and mirrors what it sees.

8 Dunbar uses similes to compare his daydreams to Medieval knights on quests. And the water into ripples breaks and sparkles as it spreads, Like a host of armored knights with silver helmets on their heads.

9 In Dunbar s poem, the water becomes a symbol imagination and the peacefulness of a daydream. It is a symbol (emblem) of how human life has its ups and downs, but the soul always knows where to go. And I deem the stream an emblem fit of human life may go, For I find a mind may sparkle much and yet but shallows show, And a soul may glow with myriad lights and wondrous mysteries, When it only lies a dormant thing and mirrors what it sees.

10 Overall, this poem is dreamy and peaceful, with a sense of nostalgia for the courtly romances of medieval times. On the other hand, Dunbar wants us to be careful not to blindly believe in those daydreams; instead, we should find our own paths. For I find a mind may sparkle much and yet but shallows show, And a soul may glow with myriad lights and wondrous mysteries, When it only lies a dormant thing and mirrors what it sees.