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Dream children
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface.
We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface.
We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
- GenresEssaysNonfiction
30 pages, Nook
First published August 9, 2015
5 people are currently reading
78 people want to read
About the author
Charles Lamb
1,987 books189 followersCharles Lamb was an English essayist with Welsh heritage, best known for his "Essays of Elia" and for the children's book "Tales from Shakespeare", which he produced along with his sister,
Mary Lamb
(1764–1847).
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 30, 2022
This essay is the tale of reverie of a man who is a bachelor though he is willing to marry the girl of his own choice.
Lamb’s manner of opening his essay is quite chatty and unceremonious. Instead of being aphoristic or didactic, he appears to begin in such a way as if he intends to share his experience with his audience and make them his secret sharer. This is evident from the opening lines of this say as the following:
“Children love to listen to stories about their elders, when they were children to stretch their imagination to the conception of a traclitionary great-uncle or grandame, whom they never saw….”
He was inopportune since he could not realize his aspiration. His cherished desires were unfulfilled. His courtship with Ann Simmons was unproductive and off-putting.
Lamb gets a comfort to see his children Alice and John in his dreams. He senses the guiltless presence of his children. They, as children, are inquisitive to know about their great-grandmother, Field. They are moved by the lonely life of their great-grandmother. Uncle John Lamb’s bereavement overpowers the children.
Lamb takes contentment in the engaging company of his children. Their questions, responses and reactions are intimately watched by Lamb.
“Then, in somewhat a more heightened tone, I told how, though their great- grandmother Field loved all her grand-children, yet in an especial manner she might be said to love their uncle, John L — —, because he was so handsome and spirited a youth, and a king to the rest of us; and, instead of moping about in solitary corners, like some of us, he would mount the most mettlesome horse he could get….”
Though this essay is autobiographical, Lamb adds the charisma of imagination to it. The essay is full of absentminded reminiscences and reflections. The author provides all the details of his life — his grandmother’s remoteness, his brother John Lamb’s bereavement and his ineffective long courtship of Ann Simmons.
The heartrending account of the children adds beauty to the narration.
Indeed, this essay is a piece of delicate creativity, a moving daydream which is enveloped in an air of tragedy.
The parting dialogue of the children is the pinnacle of the reverie -- “We are not of Alice, nor of thee, nor are we children at all... We are noththg less than nothing, and dreams. We are only what might have been.” There can be no other suitable additional title to this essay than the present one.
Stream of consciousness is the method of writing in which the writer tells or narrates his ideas in the flow as they appear in his mind. This is for writer’s catharsis, in which the writer repeats certain ideas a number of times within the same piece of writing.
Consider the following extracts from the essay:
“Then I went on to say, how good and how religious their great grandmother Field was.”
“...because she had such a good and religious person”
“...because I was never half so good or religious as she”
The idea of great-grandmother Field being very religious has been repeated thrice. This also shows Lamb’s admiration of ethics and religiosity.
This essay has pathos as a keynote. Most of the pensive nostalgia and reflections have a stroke of bathos. A variety of references to the forlorn life of the grandmother Field are full of glum. John Lamb’s death makes us very sad. Lamb’s unsuccessful courtship of Alice W - - N (She is Ann Simmons in Lamb’s real life) is full of poignancy and heart-breaking pathos.
Towards the end of the essay when the children begin to fade and their stunning declaration “We are not of Alice, nor of thee, nor are we children at all... We are only what might have been” adds to the gravity of pathos.
Lamb is known for his sense of humour. The children’s reactions to their father’s statements are quite humorous. Lamb creates humour when he tells the children his love for “busy-idle diversions” rather than for the fruits. John silently puts on the plate a bunch of grapes which he had stolen from that place.
Lamb tells the children that their great-grandmother was considered to be the best dancer in her youth. Alice’s right foot starts moving on hearing this. John tries to look courageous when he comes to know that his great-grandmother used to sleep all alone in that very big house. All these incidents create a civilized humour in the essay.
Lamb is well-known to adapt his style to his subject matter. The title of the essay is “Dream Children”, the title requires a brooding and poignant style. Keeping in view the fact that Lamb could never marry, makes the subject all the more contemplative and broody. The language of the essay is very simple but convincing. We do not find any Latin expressions or phrases. Lamb does not use compound words in this essay.
He has not used any superseded words or phrases. We seldom find any verbal decorations. The essay is written in a innocent and straight- forward language that is the requirement of the essay.
No doubt some sentences are long but they do not create confusion in the mind of the reader. Indeed this essay is “a lyric in prose”.
Lamb’s manner of opening his essay is quite chatty and unceremonious. Instead of being aphoristic or didactic, he appears to begin in such a way as if he intends to share his experience with his audience and make them his secret sharer. This is evident from the opening lines of this say as the following:
“Children love to listen to stories about their elders, when they were children to stretch their imagination to the conception of a traclitionary great-uncle or grandame, whom they never saw….”
He was inopportune since he could not realize his aspiration. His cherished desires were unfulfilled. His courtship with Ann Simmons was unproductive and off-putting.
Lamb gets a comfort to see his children Alice and John in his dreams. He senses the guiltless presence of his children. They, as children, are inquisitive to know about their great-grandmother, Field. They are moved by the lonely life of their great-grandmother. Uncle John Lamb’s bereavement overpowers the children.
Lamb takes contentment in the engaging company of his children. Their questions, responses and reactions are intimately watched by Lamb.
“Then, in somewhat a more heightened tone, I told how, though their great- grandmother Field loved all her grand-children, yet in an especial manner she might be said to love their uncle, John L — —, because he was so handsome and spirited a youth, and a king to the rest of us; and, instead of moping about in solitary corners, like some of us, he would mount the most mettlesome horse he could get….”
Though this essay is autobiographical, Lamb adds the charisma of imagination to it. The essay is full of absentminded reminiscences and reflections. The author provides all the details of his life — his grandmother’s remoteness, his brother John Lamb’s bereavement and his ineffective long courtship of Ann Simmons.
The heartrending account of the children adds beauty to the narration.
Indeed, this essay is a piece of delicate creativity, a moving daydream which is enveloped in an air of tragedy.
The parting dialogue of the children is the pinnacle of the reverie -- “We are not of Alice, nor of thee, nor are we children at all... We are noththg less than nothing, and dreams. We are only what might have been.” There can be no other suitable additional title to this essay than the present one.
Stream of consciousness is the method of writing in which the writer tells or narrates his ideas in the flow as they appear in his mind. This is for writer’s catharsis, in which the writer repeats certain ideas a number of times within the same piece of writing.
Consider the following extracts from the essay:
“Then I went on to say, how good and how religious their great grandmother Field was.”
“...because she had such a good and religious person”
“...because I was never half so good or religious as she”
The idea of great-grandmother Field being very religious has been repeated thrice. This also shows Lamb’s admiration of ethics and religiosity.
This essay has pathos as a keynote. Most of the pensive nostalgia and reflections have a stroke of bathos. A variety of references to the forlorn life of the grandmother Field are full of glum. John Lamb’s death makes us very sad. Lamb’s unsuccessful courtship of Alice W - - N (She is Ann Simmons in Lamb’s real life) is full of poignancy and heart-breaking pathos.
Towards the end of the essay when the children begin to fade and their stunning declaration “We are not of Alice, nor of thee, nor are we children at all... We are only what might have been” adds to the gravity of pathos.
Lamb is known for his sense of humour. The children’s reactions to their father’s statements are quite humorous. Lamb creates humour when he tells the children his love for “busy-idle diversions” rather than for the fruits. John silently puts on the plate a bunch of grapes which he had stolen from that place.
Lamb tells the children that their great-grandmother was considered to be the best dancer in her youth. Alice’s right foot starts moving on hearing this. John tries to look courageous when he comes to know that his great-grandmother used to sleep all alone in that very big house. All these incidents create a civilized humour in the essay.
Lamb is well-known to adapt his style to his subject matter. The title of the essay is “Dream Children”, the title requires a brooding and poignant style. Keeping in view the fact that Lamb could never marry, makes the subject all the more contemplative and broody. The language of the essay is very simple but convincing. We do not find any Latin expressions or phrases. Lamb does not use compound words in this essay.
He has not used any superseded words or phrases. We seldom find any verbal decorations. The essay is written in a innocent and straight- forward language that is the requirement of the essay.
No doubt some sentences are long but they do not create confusion in the mind of the reader. Indeed this essay is “a lyric in prose”.
March 17, 2025
I thought it was a happy essay, and then the end happened... Best essay of Brit Lit so far.
February 12, 2023
A warm short narrative with a poignant punch.
I was prompted to read it by Literary Taste: How to Form It, by Arnold Bennett, who says:
...The key... is one of profound sadness. But note that he makes his sadness beautiful; or, rather, he shows the beauty that resides in sadness. ... Why is Dream Children a classic? It is a classic because it transmits to you, as to generations before you, distinguished emotion, because it makes you respond to the throb of life more intensely, more justly, and more nobly. ...Charles Lamb had… a very sensitive, and a very honest mind. … [He] set up in you that vibration which we call pleasure, and which is supereminently caused by vitalising participation in high emotion. ...[H]e really did think to himself, "This is beautiful. Sorrow is beautiful. Disappointment is beautiful. Life is beautiful. I must tell them. I must make them understand."
-----------------
Dream Children is only 4 pages and available at Archive.org:
https://archive.org/details/workschar...
Avoid the spoilers in Goodreads reviews.
I was prompted to read it by Literary Taste: How to Form It, by Arnold Bennett, who says:
...The key... is one of profound sadness. But note that he makes his sadness beautiful; or, rather, he shows the beauty that resides in sadness. ... Why is Dream Children a classic? It is a classic because it transmits to you, as to generations before you, distinguished emotion, because it makes you respond to the throb of life more intensely, more justly, and more nobly. ...Charles Lamb had… a very sensitive, and a very honest mind. … [He] set up in you that vibration which we call pleasure, and which is supereminently caused by vitalising participation in high emotion. ...[H]e really did think to himself, "This is beautiful. Sorrow is beautiful. Disappointment is beautiful. Life is beautiful. I must tell them. I must make them understand."
-----------------
Dream Children is only 4 pages and available at Archive.org:
https://archive.org/details/workschar...
Avoid the spoilers in Goodreads reviews.
January 1, 2018
Imaginative, vivid and thoughtful hut boring.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews