This section contains 380 words (approx. 1 page at 400 words per page) |
![]() |
If I were young as once I was, / and dreams and death more distant then
-- Speaker
(Lines 1-2)
Importance: This image is echoed again at the very end of the poem, acting as a refrain and bookending the speaker’s memories. It presents the concepts of dreams and death as two facets of the same state of being: an otherworldly, in-between consciousness beyond the mortal world. It’s also worth noting the poet’s association with the concept of dreams, a motif which is explored regularly in his work — most notably in his long-running Sandman series, in which Dream and Death are two of the central characters.
She'd pluck wild eagles from the air / and nail me to a lightning tree
-- Speaker
(Lines 11-12)
Importance: This line is a reference to the world tree in Norse mythology, with suggestions of other world myths and folklore such as the significance of oaks (believed to protect against lightning) in Celtic...
This section contains 380 words (approx. 1 page at 400 words per page) |
![]() |