The Crypt
Dreamed between 1965 & '71 by Kathleen Raine
Hall without doors or windows, underground
Ancestral crypt of castle or keep; hewn stone Of impregnable dream the strong walls of that state Where unknown shadowy people come and go, And I among them of my own free will, Or by the will wherein my freedom's range Brought to that place for reasons not my own. So by the degrees of an approach
Then an old woman bowed with griefs and wrongs
Then it was I in my right hand beheld the sword
|
SOURCE: Collected Poems by Kathleen Raine, 2001, p.172-3
EDITOR'S NOTE
Well titled! Cryptic indeed. The dreamer dismisses the old woman's complaint against Amfortas, but that last line is troublingly ambiguous. Did the dreamer refuse to execute the king as asked? But he's lain there a long time; what if he's the "old scabbard"? Yet impaling him with this sword of light might be healing, not deadly; he seems to be stirring in response to its presence.
But it ends there, for us to guess. As many dreams do, of course.
--Chris Wayan
World Dream Bank homepage - Art gallery - New stuff - Introductory sampler, best dreams, best art - On dreamwork - Books
Indexes: Subject - Author - Date - Names - Places - Art media/styles
Titles: A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - IJ - KL - M - NO - PQ - R - Sa-Sh - Si-Sz - T - UV - WXYZ
Email: wdreamb@yahoo.com - Catalog of art, books, CDs - Behind the Curtain: FAQs, bio, site map - Kindred sites