20 Famous Poems About Dreams That Are Inspiring.

20 Famous Poems About Dreams That Are Inspiring.

Famous Poems About Dreams – There are two kinds of dreams. That which arrives when you’re asleep, and that which comes as a surprise when you’re awake. What is the connection between the two types? Both kinds of dreams are about the yearnings that are held deep inside us.

Some of these desires are so secret that we dare not share them even with our closest friends. Those of us that dare to put our dreams down on paper are showing the courage and faith that they will come true.

And in the world of dreams, you can ultimately be free. So let the magic take place as you dream with these 27 poems about dreams.

1. The Dream

Dear love, for nothing less than thee
Would I have broke this happy dream;
It was a theme
For reason, much too strong for fantasy,
Therefore thou wak’d’st me wisely; yet
My dream thou brok’st not, but continued’st it.
Thou art so true that thoughts of thee suffice
To make dreams truths, and fables histories;
Enter these arms, for since thou thought’st it best,
Not to dream all my dream, let’s act the rest.

As lightning, or a taper’s light,
Thine eyes, and not thy noise wak’d me;
Yet I thought thee
(For thou lovest truth) an angel, at first sight;
But when I saw thou sawest my heart,
And knew’st my thoughts, beyond an angel’s art,
When thou knew’st what I dreamt, when thou knew’st when
Excess of joy would wake me, and cam’st then,
I must confess, it could not choose but be
Profane, to think thee any thing but thee.

Coming and staying show’d thee, thee,
But rising makes me doubt, that now
Thou art not thou.
That love is weak where fear’s as strong as he;
‘Tis not all spirit, pure and brave,
If mixture it of fear, shame, honour have;
Perchance as torches, which must ready be,
Men light and put out, so thou deal’st with me;
Thou cam’st to kindle, goest to come; then I
Will dream that hope again, but else would die.

By John Donne

2. A Dream

Once a dream did weave a shade
O’er my angel-guarded bed,
That an emmet lost its way
Where on grass methought I lay.

Troubled, wildered, and forlorn,
Dark, benighted, travel-worn,
Over many a tangle spray,
All heart-broke, I heard her say:

‘Oh my children! do they cry,
Do they hear their father sigh?
Now they look abroad to see,
Now return and weep for me.’

Pitying, I dropped a tear:
But I saw a glow-worm near,
Who replied, ‘What wailing wight
Calls the watchman of the night?

‘I am set to light the ground,
While the beetle goes his round:
Follow now the beetle’s hum;
Little wanderer, hie thee home!’

By William Blake

3. A Dream Within a Dream

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow —
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand —
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep — while I weep!
O God! Can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

By Edgar Allan Poe

4. I Dreamed in a Dream

I dream’d in a dream, I saw a city invincible to the
attacks of the whole of the rest of the earth;
I dream’d that was the new City of Friends;
Nothing was greater there than the quality of robust
love—it led the rest;
It was seen every hour in the actions of the men of
that city,
And in all their looks and words.

By Walt Whitman

5. I Dream of You, to Wake

I dream of you, to wake: would that I might
Dream of you and not wake but slumber on;
Nor find with dreams the dear companion gone,
As, Summer ended, Summer birds take flight.
In happy dreams I hold you full in night.
I blush again who waking look so wan;
Brighter than sunniest day that ever shone,
In happy dreams your smile makes day of night.
Thus only in a dream we are at one,
Thus only in a dream we give and take
The faith that maketh rich who take or give;
If thus to sleep is sweeter than to wake,
To die were surely sweeter than to live,
Though there be nothing new beneath the sun.

By Christina Rossetti

6. We Dream—it is Good We Are Dreaming

We dream—it is good we are dreaming—
It would hurt us—were we awake—
But since it is playing—kill us,
And we are playing—shriek—

What harm? Men die—externally—
It is a truth—of Blood—
But we—are dying in Drama—
And Drama—is never dead—

Cautious—We jar each other—
And either—open the eyes—
Lest the Phantasm—prove the Mistake—
And the livid Surprise

Cool us to Shafts of Granite—
With just an Age—and Name—
And perhaps a phrase in Egyptian—
It’s prudenter—to dream—

By Emily Dickinson

7. The Dream

I have a dream
to fill the golden sheath
of a remembered day….
(Air
heavy and massed and blue
as the vapor of opium…
domes
fired in sulphurous mist…
sea
quiescent as a gray seal…
and the emerging sun
spurting up gold
over Sydney, smoke-pale, rising out of the bay….)
But the day is an up-turned cup
and its sun a junk of red iron
guttering in sluggish-green water –
where shall I pour my dream?

By Lola Ridge

8. Cat’s Dream

How neatly a cat sleeps,
sleeps with its paws and its posture,
sleeps with its wicked claws,
and with its unfeeling blood,
sleeps with all the rings-
a series of burnt circles-
which have formed the odd geology
of its sand-colored tail.

I should like to sleep like a cat,
with all the fur of time,
with a tongue rough as flint,
with the dry sex of fire;
and after speaking to no one,
stretch myself over the world,
over roofs and landscapes,
with a passionate desire
to hunt the rats in my dreams.

I have seen how the cat asleep
would undulate, how the night
flowed through it like dark water;
and at times, it was going to fall
or possibly plunge into
the bare deserted snowdrifts.
Sometimes it grew so much in sleep
like a tiger’s great-grandfather,
and would leap in the darkness over
rooftops, clouds and volcanoes.

Sleep, sleep cat of the night,
with episcopal ceremony
and your stone-carved moustache.
Take care of all our dreams;
control the obscurity
of our slumbering prowess
with your relentless heart
and the great ruff of your tail.

Translated by: Alastair Reid

By Pablo Neruda

9. Dreams

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly

Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow

By Langston Hughes

10. Hope In A Dream

Hold onto your dream while mindful of time.
Optimism required, let your light shine.
Persistence prevails, while some may cast doubt.
Expectation desired is what it’s about.

By Adalia Medina

11. Only A Dream

I’m living in my own little world.
I’m happy there, it’s okay.
It’s much more fun than the real one,
For the sun shines every day.

It’s a world with no hate or sorrow.
In my world there is no pain.
There’s no rich, no poor, no kings or queens.
In my world only our Lord reigns.

It’s a world of many colours,
A world where everyone’s free.
It’s a world of love and harmony,
A world of compassion and tranquility.

I know my world’s not the real one.
It’s only my world of make-believe.
But it’s a world I often visit,
If it’s only in my dreams.

By John P. Read

12. A Road Of Courage Toward The Dream

She wanted to fly up in the sky.
With big dreams in her eyes and passion in her mind…

She never looked back; she never looked down.
She kept on walking, even on a rocky ground.

She felt broken and almost gave up midway,
But it was her courage that supported her night and day.

She wanted to share her emotions and feelings
That were making her weak with problem dealings.

She tried to express in thousand ways she found,
But thought it easy to just shup up and lie down.

She never knew those hurdles were making her strong.
She just thought her decision went wrong.

But she continued to take her baby steps…
Toward the dreams she once felt.

With passion in her mind and courage in her heart,
She was again ready to build her own dream art…

By Shivani Khurana

13. Harlem

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

By Langston Hughes

15. Wishful Thinking

I wish for the day when a man is a man,
when the flaws of another aren’t gold in his hand.

When the bread in his kitchen is ample for meals,
any extra is given without contracts or deals.

When the waste of a nation is a feast for the swine,
when compassion and honor are traits of mankind.

When we know we are human from the sadness we bare
when a life is extinguished anytime…anywhere.

When we prosper as brothers without culture or creed,
without hate or dissension, without anger and greed.

I wish for the moment when humanity wins,
when people aren’t strangers but equals and friends.

When we break from a history of fear and regret,
and we stop looking back and start looking ahead.

When a lie is a weapon, when truth is a shield,
and knowledge a blade we can sharpen and wield.

When we vow to remember and dare to forget,
when we follow our path without judgement and threat.

I wish for the day we all read this and knew,
the reader’s to blame, it can never come true…

By Bodie James

16. A Bed Of Clouds

I sleep in the clouds, dream in the sky,
I’ll keep dreaming as life passes me by,
I think my dreams keep me sane,
I dream of happiness, a life without pain,
some people say I’m stuck in this place,
and I’ll never go anywhere,
but in my dreams I’ve already been there,
I know some day I’ll have to wake up,
but I feel the real world is more like a nightmare,
I’m safe in my closed eye wonderland,
this poem goes to all the dreamers that understand,
no matter what they say…
keep your dreams but don’t dream your life away,

By Ashley L. May

17. Dreaming On Paper

I don’t talk.
My lips part and air pushes out,
but the sound must not fit,
because my thoughts are so big.

So I don’t try to talk.
My thoughts must be too good for
words, for the air, for my lips.

But they are just right for paper.
My thoughts flow on paper.
They are just big enough.

So I don’t talk;
I compose,
I write,
I dream.

By Rebecca

18. A Place Like This

It is an early morning
I need an island in the sea,
Away from you away from me,
Beyond the waves beyond the wind,
Beyond the world that we live in,
Under skies of shining stars,
Away from lights and noisy cars,
Above the egos and the stress,
Beyond the world we made a mess.
A place for me a place for you,
An earth that’s green a sky that’s blue,
A place for you a place for me,
An open sky and light blue sea,
With dreams as solid as the ground,
A place like this I think I’ve found.
A happy thought no one can take it,
A place like this is where we make it.
I need a mountain in the sky,
Just beneath where angels fly,
Where snowflakes falling on the ground,
Is the most disruptive sound,
Above the waves above the wind,
Above the world that we live in,
Above my life above the stress,
Where I can lay it all to rest,
Under skies of falling snow,
Just above the world below,
Just above the trees and birds,
A place I can’t describe in words.
An empty place that’s so appealing,
How’d I get this stupid feeling?
Bad ideas come and go,
But none as potent as the snow,
I need no island in the sea,
Just the things that make me me.
I need no mountain in the sky,
Just to laugh try not to cry,
Forget these far off fantasies,
And manifest as realities,
Reach out and grab it in good time,
Seize the moment make it mine,
Catch the moment make it last.
Just be grateful when it’s past.
Sensations as real as the wind,
Try not to be sad when it ends.
A happy thought no one can take it,
A time like this is when we make it.
I need an island in the sea,
And all of that which makes me me.

By Milo Shumpert

19. Ranch Of Memories

My feet pressed against the dusty roads.
The cool breeze skimmed my face.
The air’s fragrance, a mixture of fruit and flowers, traveled through my nose.
Down the slopes I would race,
My hair spreading all around me.
The dogs raced down too.
This fantasy became reality,
A dream come true.
Some people may just call it a walk or a hike,
But it is independence for me.
Some people prefer to take a bike, but I let my soul fly free
On my grandpa’s ranch.
Across the trees,
Across the flower patch,
Through the breeze.
This is the place I love to go.
This is the place my soul flies free.
So many memories I cherish it holds.
This is where I get to see my family.
My grandpa’s ranch, my favorite place in the world.

By Atusa S. Hangafarin

20. Ghosts And Shadows

I often lie awake at night
While the world is fast asleep
And take a stroll down memory lane
Where ghosts and shadows meet.

I see you in the distance,
I hear you call my name.
And for one moment time stands still
As I hold you once again.

By John P. Read

We encourage you to add your poems about dreams in the comment box below! Dreams are not illegal, feel free to express your dreams in a poetic way, we are waiting to read them.

Also, we encourage you to share this article with friends, you never know who will get inspired by this little kindness of yours!

Daily Time Poems.