“Dream Children: A Reverie” is an essay by Charles Lamb that delves into the realm of dreams and explores complex emotions and experiences arising from childhood imagination. The essay is a tender account of Charles Lamb’s reminiscences about his bygone days. Read More English Summaries.
Dream – Children: A Reverie Summary
Dream – Children: A Reverie Summary in English
This is a story of a dream of a life which the writer couldn’t have. Children are usually fond of listening to the stories of their ancestors. The writer’s children (in fact imaginary) came closer to him to know about their great grandmother Field who lived in a great house in Norfolk. The writer continued to say interesting facts about Field. Field was a highly religious lady loved and respected by all. She was in fact not the mistress of the great house but just a caretaker of it, still she lived with dignity. When she died, her funeral was attended by a concourse of all the poor and some of the gentry too, of the neighborhood. They came from many miles to show their respect in her memory.
Further, the writer said that Field was tall, upright and graceful. She was an esteemed dancer in her youth. Later she suffered from the deadly disease, cancer which put her in pain. But she was still upright, as she was so good and religious.
Field used to sleep by herself in a lone chamber of the great house. She usually believed that two infants used to glide up and down the great staircase near where she slept during midnight. The writer was scared for he never saw any infant. However, Field was always very good to all her grand children. She liked to have all the children with her in the house during holidays. The writer enjoyed his loneliness even there. He was always alone in himself even there in the house of the grandmother.
Then the writer told John and Alice, the two children who were taking much interest in the story that the grandmother loved all the grand children with joy but she had special attention to John L. John L was very handsome and spirited youth. He loved the great house and took care of the garden. He used to carry the writer on his back, for he was a bit older than the writer.
It was because the writer was lame and couldn’t walk long. Later, he himself became lame and was in great pain. His painful death haunted the writer for long. The writer missed him much; for he had loved him too. He missed his brother’s kindness, closeness and wished him to be alive again to be quarrelling with him.
Dream – Children: A Reverie
The children cried to listen to the stories about their pretty dead mother. The writer continued that he courted the fair Alice W-N, but when he explained how he was denied of the marriage, what pain had to suffer the children great emotional. They thought and realized that they were not real children born of the writer and Alice W-N. They were nearly dreams. The writer was awakened and there was no one around him neither John nor Alice.