1881
by Camille Pissarro
I am awake – I know I dream not,
Making every image in seeing real
The fancy of the mind I know for aught,
Riding on a train of thoughts by a mile.
When I dream – I think myself awake,
Seeing things in fantasy of the obscured mind
Buried in the vales of decaying senses at stake,
Gliding on a Flying Carpet overlooking the world.
For my dreams are impertinent when unguided
By the consciousness of reality – Law of Reason –
Pulling the reins of Rational Truth in on the mystified,
Hunting out the causes of the Revolt against Reason.
P.S: I wrote this poem upon reading “You and Your Dream” by Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) in which the philosopher assessed the nature of /evidence of supernatural sights and other related matters. So in a way, this is my review on his essay, which I thought would be interpreted better in poetry based on its subject matter and the impressions it evoked.
A Cat in the Mirror 