Dreams

"The Crossing" by Linda Pastan (2000)

Pastan re-visits the relationship between dream and dreamer in her mid-career poem “The Crossing.” The Kenyon Review published the poem in their Summer/Fall 2000 issue. Pastan re-interprets aspects of “Dreams” in “The Crossing.” She changes dreams from subject to a personified participant and the dreamscape from a private space to a public performance. She also goes from observing the dead to waiting for death.

"Asleep" by Jennifer Barber (2019)

Jennifer Barber’s poem “Asleep” also mixes dreams and reality to explore how difficult it can be to have intimate bonds with and knowledge of other people. December magazine published “Asleep” in its Spring/Summer 2019 issue.

"Insomnia, Section 8" by Marina Tsvetaeva (1916), trans. by Elaine Feinstein (1986)

Early 20th-century Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva greatly influenced international female writers and poetry about sleep. In this excerpt from her long poem “Insomnia,” readers can see how Pastan’s inspiration from dreams and wonder at the stars echoes Tsvetaeva’s invocation to the Night for inspiration.

"I Love to Kiss" by Marina Tsvetaeva (1916), trans. by Belinda Cooke (2007)

Also excerpted from Tsvetaeva’s 10-part poem “Insomnia,” Belinda Cooke’s translation “I Love to Kiss” shares similarities with “Dreams” as well.