Topic > Broken Dream Literature Review

Broken Dream is a complex poem that conveys ideas regarding the afterlife, death, loss, power, the passage of time, and the beauty of a woman. Yeats speaks of the beauty of an aged woman. He describes his distinctive affections for her using different images of the woman at different stages of life. In the poem he talks about his excellence and that even his imperfections are perfect. The poem is almost as if his thoughts are recorded on paper: if you consider, you don't really plan to compose and order the thoughts, but just try to get them out. The opening line of the poem “There is gray in your hair” presents the message of change and decay at an early stage. It presents the unflattering truth of aging and also shows the possibility of death and decay. Yeats implies that no young man “catches his breath” and thus falls in love with the woman because neither the woman nor the poet are younger. Then the poet calls himself an “old electrician,” which sounds quite personal and colloquial. He also proposes that his adoration for this woman goes beyond physical inspirations. The poet emphasizes that it was his prayer that "healed him on his deathbed". She is apparently religious, generous and concerned about others. The word “sun sake” suggests that the entire poem is based on the concept of dreams, also alluding to sleep, reflecting the themes of loss and death that are prevalent in “Broken Dreams”. For her sole good she dresses in "burdensome beauty". Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Burdensome means stressful, overwhelming. Beauty here is seen as a burden as aging will seem even more harmful to those who look at it. As the woman grows older, she has started to lose her beauty with age and thus her own beauty has become stressful for her. Despite her heavy beauty, the poet describes her as charming, in light of the fact that she brings “peace” to others with her presence. This reflects the inner beauty that makes the people around her happy and grateful. The perfect, now faded beauty of her youth inspires memories in those who see her now, including the speaker. The repeated message, "vague memories, nothing but memories" connects to the idea of ​​"dreams" in the title and implies how Yeats still remembers the woman's youth and beauty, regardless of whether they no longer exist in reality. Indeed, the entire poem is an exercise in precisely such memory; exemplifies the same memory he speaks of. The line “When age might have cooled his blood” reveals that Yeats's love for woman is somewhat marred by his old age, demonstrating the power of loss and decay. It also reveals Yeats's faithfulness, however, as he is saying that, even in his final days, he will love and remember the woman in his dreams. But in the tomb everything, everything will be renewed. The certainty that I will see that lady. Leaning or standing or walking. In the first beauty of femininity. And with the fervor of my youthful eyes. It made me mumble like an idiot. Here the poet imagines that the woman, in the afterlife in heaven, will be seen once again in her youthful beauty and indeed that his vision of her will be renewed after her death. The first line of this stanza, "But in the grave everything, everything will be renewed" connects to the line "collect me in the artifice of eternity" ("Sailing towards Byzantium"). Both of these lines from two different poems mean that everyone will have to die one day. Meanwhile, the poet understands that he must die to know the truth and immortality. In “Broken Dreams”, Yeats says that he will get back together with the woman only after her death. He perceives that".