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The Tower of the Dream single work   poetry   "How wonderful are Dreams! Yet, are they but"
  • Author:agent Charles Harpur http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/harpur-charles
First known date: 1851-1853 Issue Details: First known date: 1851-1853... 1851-1853 The Tower of the Dream
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Notes

  • This poem appears in a number of versions from 1851-1853 onwards. For further details, see The Poems of Charles Harpur in Manuscript in the Mitchell Library and in Publication in the Nineteenth Century: An Analytical Finding List by Elizabeth Holt and Elizabeth Perkins (Canberra: Australian Scholarly Editions Centre, 2002).

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First line of verse: "As in the death-like mystery of Sleep" Serialised by: The Empire 1850 newspaper (1072 issues)
Notes:
Serialised in the Empire, Part I (154 lines) (21 February 1857): 4; Part II (180 lines) (10 March 1857): 2.
      Sydney, New South Wales,: 1865 .
      Printed by Clarson, Shallard and Co.
      Extent: 24p.
      Note/s:
      • 'Reprinted from The Australian Journal.'
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Poems Charles Harpur , Melbourne : George Robertson , 1883 Z139167 1883 selected work poetry Melbourne : George Robertson , 1883 pg. 19-39
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Poetical Works of Charles Harpur Charles Harpur , Elizabeth Perkins (editor), Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1984 Z459555 1984 selected work poetry satire 'This collection represents one version of almost every poem written by Charles Harpur, with the omission of some translations and paraphrases. The verse drama, "Stalwart the Bushranger", and the fragments of the dramatic poem "King Saul" are not included. ... The collection is edited from Harpur's manuscript poems held in the Mitchell Library, Sydney, and from printed copies in colonial newspapers when no manuscript version existed.' (Preface) Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1984 pg. 235-253
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Related Works

From The Tower of the Dream i "Yes, wonderful are dreams: and I have known", Charles Harpur , 1964 extract poetry (The Tower of the Dream)
— Appears in: From the Ballads to Brennan 1964; (p. 56-57)
VIEW ALL RELATED WORKS (1)

Works about this Work

Charles Harpur's Disfiguring Origins : Allegory in Colonial Poetry Philip Mead , 1990 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , May vol. 14 no. 3 1990; (p. 279-296) Imagining Romanticism : Essays on English and Australian Romanticisms 1992; (p. 217-240) Mead examines the poetry of Charles Harpur in terms of the poet's attempt to move from colonial to national modes of expression. Mead proceeds by exploring the allegorical nature of some poems as signs of Harpur's attempt to exhibit the original Australian voice to which he aspired. But, allegoresis, Mead suggests, opposes the poet's romanticising of origins because of the gap between the signs of expression and the experience of the poet. What is found when one seeks "origins" in Harpur's poetry is not a "unitary or easily traceable historical origin" but the "divisions and anxieties" of Harpur's allegory.
Sense and Nonsense J. J. Healy , 1989 single work criticism
— Appears in: Literature and the Aborigine in Australia 1770- 1975 1989; (p. 91-112)
Poetic Ideal Versus 'the Hard Real' in Charles Harpur's 'The Tower of the Dream' Michael Ackland , 1987 single work criticism
— Appears in: Southerly , December vol. 47 no. 4 1987; (p. 380-394) Ackland explores Harpur's use of the "dream tradition" to show how the poem expresses the "wonder of dream and the anxiety of nightmare". The dreams exist as part of the content of prophetic vision by identifying the existence of a supernatural dimension of creation accessible to man. Inspired revelation and individual impulse converge on the dream to represent the poetic act which Harpur sees as "the blending of mortal and immortal minds, of actual and ideal worlds".
Criticism and the Individual Talent Harry Payne Heseltine , 1972 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin Quarterly , Autumn vol. 31 no. 1 1972; (p. 10-24)
Poetic Ideal Versus 'the Hard Real' in Charles Harpur's 'The Tower of the Dream' Michael Ackland , 1987 single work criticism
— Appears in: Southerly , December vol. 47 no. 4 1987; (p. 380-394) Ackland explores Harpur's use of the "dream tradition" to show how the poem expresses the "wonder of dream and the anxiety of nightmare". The dreams exist as part of the content of prophetic vision by identifying the existence of a supernatural dimension of creation accessible to man. Inspired revelation and individual impulse converge on the dream to represent the poetic act which Harpur sees as "the blending of mortal and immortal minds, of actual and ideal worlds".
Sense and Nonsense J. J. Healy , 1989 single work criticism
— Appears in: Literature and the Aborigine in Australia 1770- 1975 1989; (p. 91-112)
Charles Harpur's Disfiguring Origins : Allegory in Colonial Poetry Philip Mead , 1990 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , May vol. 14 no. 3 1990; (p. 279-296) Imagining Romanticism : Essays on English and Australian Romanticisms 1992; (p. 217-240) Mead examines the poetry of Charles Harpur in terms of the poet's attempt to move from colonial to national modes of expression. Mead proceeds by exploring the allegorical nature of some poems as signs of Harpur's attempt to exhibit the original Australian voice to which he aspired. But, allegoresis, Mead suggests, opposes the poet's romanticising of origins because of the gap between the signs of expression and the experience of the poet. What is found when one seeks "origins" in Harpur's poetry is not a "unitary or easily traceable historical origin" but the "divisions and anxieties" of Harpur's allegory.
Criticism and the Individual Talent Harry Payne Heseltine , 1972 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin Quarterly , Autumn vol. 31 no. 1 1972; (p. 10-24)
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (4)
Last amended 13 Jun 2012 14:46:08
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