A dream vision or ''visio'' is a literary device in which a dream or vision is recounted as having revealed knowledge or a truth that is not available to the dreamer or visionary in a normal waking state. While dreams occur frequently throughout the history of literature, visionary literature as a genre began to flourish suddenly, and is especially characteristic in early medieval Europe. In both its ancient and medieval form, the dream vision is often felt to be of divine origin. The genre reemerged in the era of Romanticism, when dreams were regarded as creative gateways to imaginative possibilities beyond rational calculation. This genre typically follows a structure whereby a narrator recounts their experience of falling asleep, dreaming, and waking, with the story often an

allegory As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...

. The dream, which forms the subject of the poem, is prompted by events in their waking life that are referred to early in the poem. The ‘vision’ addresses these waking concerns through the possibilities of the imaginative landscapes offered by the dream-state. In the course of the dream, the narrator, often with the aid of a guide, is offered perspectives that provide potential resolutions to their waking concerns. The poem concludes with the narrator waking, determined to record the dream – thus producing the poem. The dream-vision convention was widely used in

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

, Old Russian, medieval Latin,

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

, Gnostic, Hebrew, and other literatures.

Visions in medieval European literature

In the book "Medieval Latin visions", Russian philologist Boris Yarkho explores the genre of dream visions, defining it in terms of form and content. To the formal aspects of the genre, the researcher refers, first, the didacticism of the genre of visions itself, which should reveal some truths to the reader; secondly, the presence of the image of a " clairvoyant" (or visionary), which has two functions: "he must perceive the content of the vision purely spiritually" and "must associate the content of the vision with sensory images".Ярхо, Борис Исаакович. Из книг�
«Средневековые латинские видения»
// Восток-Запад: Исследования, переводы, публикации. Вып. 4. — М.: Наука, 1989. — Third, the formal aspects include ''psychophysiological phenomena'', that is, the situation and circumstances of the vision: '' lethargy'', ''

hallucinations A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the qualities of a real perception. Hallucinations are vivid, substantial, and are perceived to be located in external objective space. Hallucination is a combinatio ...

'' and '' dreams''. The content of the genre of visions is based on the description of pictures of the

afterlife The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving ess ...

ghosts A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

and ''phenomena of otherworldly forces'', as well as eschatology. In addition, medieval visions can also be filled with topical content that is adjacent to the "eternal", that is, the afterlife, the otherworldly: socio-political contexts can penetrate into the visions, etc. Yarkho pays attention to the internal structure of visions, distinguishing two types — "one-vertex" visions and "multi-vertex" (eschatological) visions. The structure of the second type of vision can be "archaic", "classical", or " complexly systematized». On the Genesis of medieval visions, Rosalia Shor writes in the Literary encyclopedia (1929-1939):

Until the 12th century, all the visions were written in Latin, from the 12th century there are translated ones, and from the
13th In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octave pl ...
— there are original visions in folk languages. The most complete form of visions is represented in the Latin poetry of the clergy: this genre is closely related to canonical and
apocryphal Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...
religious literature and is close to Church preaching

The peak of the medieval vision genre is considered to be Dante's " Divine Comedy", which can be called a detailed vision, based on its narrative and compositional features.

The deformation of the genre of visions

In the course of evolutionary development, the genre of visions in European literature undergoes natural historical changes: visions are beginning to be used by authors as a means of transmitting

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

content, for writing pamphlets on topical circumstances. As R. O. Shor notes,

since the Tenth century, the form and content of visions have provoked protest, often from the declassified layers of the clergy themselves (poor
clerics Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
and goliard schoolboys). All this results in periodic visions. On the other hand, the form of visions is taken over by courtly chivalrous poetry in folk languages: visions here acquire a new content, becoming a frame of love-didactic allegory — such as, for example, "Fabliau dou dieu d'amour" (the Story of the God of love), " Venus la déesse d'amors" ( Venus — the goddess of love) and finally-the encyclopedia of courtly love-the famous " Roman de la Rose" of Guillaume de Lorris.

Visions in Old Russian literature

The genre of visions was one of the typical genres of Old Russian literature, in addition, its individual elements could penetrate into the structure of other genres of Old Russian works. For example, Nikolai Prokofiev discovered the features of the genre of visions in stories, walks, lives, signs, and many other sources.Nikolai Prokofiev. Vision as a genre in Ancient Russian literature / / Uchenye zapiski MSPI im. V. I. Lenin. - M., 1964. - Vol. 231: Voprosy stila khudozhestvennoy literatury. - p. 37-38 The composition of the traditional Old Russian vision is as follows: the plot begins with a prayer that precedes psychophysiological states, which are accompanied by visions. Then the hero sees otherworldly forces, which, showing the visionary a " revelation", solve some question. The fear of the clairvoyant is described, after which the meaning of the "revelation" itself is revealed. In conclusion, these same forces call on the visionary to preach what he has seen. The nature of the images in the Old Russian visions is twofold: they can be both characters of

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

mythology, which do not need interpretation, and symbolic or allegorical images of living nature (going back to the Old Russian pagan beliefs). Exploring the genesis of visions, Nikolai Prokofiev raises them to the genre of dreams, very popular in ancient times.

The heroes of the Old Russian epic are often gods, and this phenomenon is usually given in dreams.

Some researchers conclude that the genre of visions gradually disappears from literature after the Peter the Great era. Russian Russian writer Alexander Pigin, who in his book "Visions of the Other World in Russian Handwritten books" cites a whole body of texts that indicate that the genre of visions in the Russian handwritten tradition does not die in the XIX—XX centuries, and also draws attention to the lack of knowledge of the genre.Alexander Pigin. Visions of the Other world in Russian handwritten books. - St. Petersburg, 2006. - p. 3-21. Defining the subject of the Old Russian visions, he speaks of "small eschatology", that is, the doctrine of the posthumous fate of the human soul, and of "big eschatology" - the doctrine of the end of the world:

The subject of the visions is "small" (or "private") eschatology, since all the interest in them is focused on the posthumous fate of the individual.

Pigin points out that visions as a genre have their roots in archaic animistic beliefs, and ideas about the "other world" are found in all peoples.

Authors and works

Latin

Ancient Roman

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...

, ''Soliloquia'' * Boethius, '' De consolatione philosophiae'' * Cicero, '' Dream of Scipio'' *

Macrobius Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, usually referred to as Macrobius (fl. AD 400), was a Roman provincial who lived during the early fifth century, during late antiquity, the period of time corresponding to the Later Roman Empire, and when Latin was ...

, ''Commentary on Cicero's Dream of Scipio''

Medieval Latin

* John Gower, Vox Clamantis Book One is an account of the Peasants' Revolt *

Alain de Lille Alain de Lille (Alan of Lille) (Latin: ''Alanus ab Insulis''; 11281202/03) was a French theologian and poet. He was born in Lille, some time before 1128. His exact date of death remains unclear as well, with most research pointing toward it bei ...

, ''De planctu naturae'' *Brother Marcus, '' Visio Tnugdali'' ("The Vision of Tundale")

French

* Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun, '' Roman de la rose'', also translated into Middle English by

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...

* Marie de France, ''The

Legend of the Purgatory of St. Patrick ''L'Espurgatoire Seint Patriz'' or ''The Legend of the Purgatory of Saint Patrick'' is a 12th-century poem by Marie de France. It is an Old French translation of a Latin text Tractatus de Purgatorio Sancti Patricii by the monk Henry of Sawtry, Sa ...

'' *''Le Chemin de Povreté et de Richesse'', a 14th-century dream poem incorporated in '' Le Ménagier de Paris'' *''

Le Chemin de long estude ''Le livre du chemin de long estude'' ("The book of the path of long study") is a first-person dream allegory by Christine de Pizan. Composed in 1402–03, it presents a critique of the moral state of the world and particularly France, lamenting ...

'', by

Christine de Pizan Christine de Pizan or Pisan (), born Cristina da Pizzano (September 1364 – c. 1430), was an Italian poet and court writer for King Charles VI of France and several French dukes. Christine de Pizan served as a court writer in medieval France ...

Irish

*See also

aisling The aisling (, , approximately ), or vision poem, is a poetic genre that developed during the late 17th and 18th centuries in Irish language Irish poetry, poetry. The word may have a number of variations in pronunciation, but the ''is'' of t ...

Modern literature in Irish Although Irish has been used as a literary language for more than 1,500 years (see Irish literature), and modern literature in Irish dates – as in most European languages – to the 16th century, modern Irish literature owes much of its populari ...

. * Geoffrey Keating * Aogán Ó Rathaille * Eoghan Rua Ó Súilleabháin * Seán "Clárach" Mac Domhnaill *

Brian Merriman Brian Merriman or in Irish Brian Mac Giolla Meidhre (c. 1747 – 27 July 1805) was an Irish language bard, farmer, and hedge school teacher from rural County Clare. His single surviving work of substance, the 1000-line long Dream vision poem ( ...

Pádraig Phiarais Cúndún Pádraig Phiarais Cúndún (1777–1856) was an Irish people, Irish immigrant to the United States, where he continued composing Irish poetry, poetry in Munster Irish and contributed to literature in the Irish language outside Ireland. Life Cún ...

Seán Gaelach Ó Súilleabháin Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name '' Yohanan'' (), Seán ( anglicized as '' Shaun/Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan ( Ulster variant; ang ...

Italian

* Dante Alighieri, '' The Divine Comedy'' depicts the conventions of dream-vision literature, though Dante specifically says that his vision is not a dream

Old English

Bede Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...

, ''Vision of Drycthelm'' *Anonymous, '' The Dream of the Rood'' – the guide in '' Dream of the Rood'' is the Cross on which Christ was crucified.

Middle English

, ''

Legend of Good Women ''The Legend of Good Women'' is a poem in the form of a dream vision by Geoffrey Chaucer during the fourteenth century. The poem is the third longest of Chaucer's works, after ''The Canterbury Tales'' and '' Troilus and Criseyde'', and is pos ...

'', ''

House of Fame ''The House of Fame'' (''Hous of Fame'' in the original spelling) is a Middle English poem by Geoffrey Chaucer, probably written between 1374 and 1385, making it one of his earlier works. It was most likely written after ''The Book of the Duchess ...

'', ''

Book of the Duchess ''The Book of the Duchess'', also known as ''The Deth of Blaunche'',
''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 1910. Accessed 11 March ...

'', ''

Parliament of Fowls The ''Parlement of Foules'' (modernized: ''Parliament of Fowls''), also called the ''Parlement of Briddes'' (''Parliament of Birds'') or the ''Assemble of Foules'' (''Assembly of Fowls''), is a poem by Geoffrey Chaucer (1343?–1400) made up ...

'' – ''

The Parliament of Fowls The ''Parlement of Foules'' (modernized: ''Parliament of Fowls''), also called the ''Parlement of Briddes'' (''Parliament of Birds'') or the ''Assemble of Foules'' (''Assembly of Fowls''), is a poem by Geoffrey Chaucer (1343?–1400) made up ...

'' features a dream vision in which the narrator falls asleep while reading the Dream of Scipio and is ushered into a walled garden. He is

chaperoned A chaperone (also spelled chaperon) in its original social usage was a person who for propriety's sake accompanied an unmarried girl in public; usually she was an older married woman, and most commonly the girl's own mother. In modern social u ...

in the dream briefly by

Scipio the Elder Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (, , ; 236/235–183 BC) was a Roman general and statesman, most notable as one of the main architects of Rome's victory against Carthage in the Second Punic War. Often regarded as one of the best military com ...

himself. * William Langland, ''

Piers Plowman ''Piers Plowman'' (written 1370–86; possibly ) or ''Visio Willelmi de Petro Ploughman'' (''William's Vision of Piers Plowman'') is a Middle English allegorical narrative poem by William Langland. It is written in un-rhymed, alliterative v ...

'' or ''Visio Willelmi de Petro Ploughman'' (''William's Vision of Piers Plowman'') is an apocalyptic Middle English allegorical narrative attributed to William Langland, one of the great works of

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

. It is written in unrhymed alliterative verse divided into sections called ''passus'' (Latin for "step"). *

Sir John Clanvowe Sir John Clanvowe (c. 1341 – 17 October 1391) was a Welsh diplomat, poet and chamber knight to Richard II. He was born to a Marcher family and was possibly of mixed Anglo-Welsh origin, holding lands that would lie in the present-day Radnorshire ...

, ''The Cuckoo and the Nightingale'' *Anonymous, ''Parlement of the Ages'' *Anonymous, ''

Wynnere and Wastoure Wynnere and Wastoure ("Winner and Waster") is a fragmentary Middle English poem written in alliterative verse around the middle of the 14th century. Manuscript The poem occurs in a single manuscript, British Library Additional MS. 31042, also cal ...

'' * Pearl Poet, '' Pearl'' *''

The Vision of Tundale The ''Visio Tnugdali'' ("Vision of Tnugdalus") is a 12th-century religious text reporting the otherworldly vision of the Irish knight Tnugdalus (later also called "Tundalus", "Tondolus" or in English translations, "Tundale", all deriving from the ...

'', a translation from the Latin ''Visio Tnugdali''. * John Lydgate, ''The Temple of Glass''

Modern English

* John Bunyan, '' The Pilgrim's Progress'' *

Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 17928 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achie ...

, '' The Triumph of Life'' * William Morris, '' News from Nowhere'', ''

A Dream of John Ball ''A Dream of John Ball'' ( 1888) is a novel by English author William Morris about the Great Revolt of 1381, conventionally called "the Peasants' Revolt". It features the rebel priest John Ball, who was accused of being a Lollard. He is famed ...

'' * C.S. Lewis, ''

The Great Divorce ''The Great Divorce'' is a novel by the British author C. S. Lewis, published in 1945, based on a theological dream vision of his in which he reflects on the Christian conceptions of Heaven and Hell. The working title was ''Who Goes Home?'' but t ...

'' tells of a dream vision in which the author joins a group of the damned on a vacation bus trip to heaven, where they encounter various figures from their own pasts who try to entreat them to come and join the company of those in heaven. * The Eagles, " Hotel California" * Lewis Carroll's " Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (1865 ) is in the form of a dream vision. * James Joyce's (Irish novelist) " Finnegans Wake" (1939) consists of an immense cosmic dream.

Old Russian

* '' The Tale of Igor's Campaign'' * ''

Praying Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified an ...

'' of Daniel the Immured * '' About the whole thing'' * '' Depth Book'' * And some Old Russian letopises.

Scottish Gaelic

* See also

Aisling The aisling (, , approximately ), or vision poem, is a poetic genre that developed during the late 17th and 18th centuries in Irish language Irish poetry, poetry. The word may have a number of variations in pronunciation, but the ''is'' of t ...

, Scottish Gaelic literature * Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair * Dòmhnall Ruadh Chorùna

Ukrainian

*See also Ukrainian literature * Taras Shevchenko's ''The Dream''

Welsh

*Anonymous, '' The Dream of Rhonabwy'', possibly a satire on the medieval dream vision *Anonymous, '' The Dream of Macsen Wledig''

Bibliography

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dream Vision