Dream Children ~ Charles Lamb
Dream children- Charles lamb
The escapist says that "Children love to listen to stories about their elders when their young
They wanted to hear the stories of their great uncle, great grandmother, whom they never saw.
The writer says that to hear the stories of their elders, John and Alice had come to him.
Lamb tells them the story of Grandmother field. Lamb himself was a boy then. The house at Norfold was very huge.
These children heard the story from the ballad of the Children in Wood. It was the story of how a cruel uncle killed his orphaned children.
They also heard of Robin Redbreast, how Robin Redbreast had covered the body of the orphans with leaves.
All these stories were carved on the walls of that big house & then one day a foolish rich man pulled down everything. He pulled it to modernize it.
And now there was no story on it. At this point, Alice gave a tender look ( too tender to be called upbraiding).
Lamb tells his grandchildren about his grandmother's field. She was religious. People loved and respected her.
She looked after the house as if she was the mistress of it and she kept the dignity of the great house. Later, it came to decay, as the new owner took the old ornaments
They were let up at another place But it looked awkward. It was like taking away the old tombs from Abbey to Lady c.
Here John smiled. It seemed he was not in favour of such foolish ways. Then Lamb tells them that when Grandmother field died, her funeral was attended by all the people (concourse of people; some of the gentry)
She was very good. She knew the Psaltery and Testament Here Alice became conscious; as if she should also know the testament. Then the writer. goes on to say that their grandmother was graceful and was a good dancer.
There Alice's foot made (involuntary) movements Then a cruel disease, Cancer came down. But it could not bend the spirit of grandmother fields because she was good and religious. She used to sleep in a lone chamber.
Then she saw an apparition of two infants gliding up and down the stairs. But she was not afraid. She said the children would do no harm to her.
The writer says as a child he was afraid, though he used to sleep with the maid. Lamb says he never saw the apparition of the two infants because the writer was not good and religious as their grandmother.
Here John tried to look courageous.
The writer and his brothers used to visit the old house Lamb used to gaze at the old busts of Twelve Caesars, the Emperors of Rome. Gazing at them, the waiter as a child felt those busts would seem to be alive again and that he would turn to marble-like them.
The essayist said that he kept dreaming about the huge mansion. He speaks of the garden about the nectarines, peaches, red berries, for apples and basking in the orangery.
He never plucked the fruits as it was forbidden. With the fruit in the garden, the writer felt he was also ripening with them the oranges & lime.
He enjoyed watching the fishes, dancing in the ponds, and the sulky pike. He felt as if they were mocking him. Lamb says he enjoyed all these more than the sweet flavours of peaches and oranges. There John slyly kept the grapes back. He had intended to share it with Alice. Alice had noticed that Sohn had taken the grapes.
Then the writer says, though grandmother loved all her grandchildren equally, but she had special feelings for uncle L… Uncle L was handsome. He was a king to all. He could ride. He loved the great house. But he had too much spirit to be always pent up within their boundaries.
Uncle L used to carry the writer on his back when the writer was a child. The writer confers that he was not considerate to him as uncle L was the writer.
Lamb says that on the death of Uncle, he felt he had died a long time back. Though his uncle had died an hour back; The writer did not cry. But he missed his brother. He missed his kindness.
He now realized how much he loved his brother and how much his brother loved him. The writer realized the pain his brother must have felt when his (writer's) limb was cut there the children felt crying.
They asked the writer to tell the story about their grandmother and not about their uncle.
Then the writer tells the children how for seven long years he had courted Alice. And then suddenly looking at Alice the child, the writer gets confused about who was the real Alice
And then both the children grew fainter They seemed to say, "we are not of Alice, nor are we children at all... The children of Alice are called Barton father.
As if they were saying that they were nothing, but dreams That they are waiting upon the tedious shores of Lethe millions of ages before.
And the writer wakes up. He finds himself in the bachelor arm-chair with his faithful Bridget by his side
Bartrum was the one who married Lamb's beloved. Anna.
Lethe the river of oblivion in Hell, according to classical mythology.
Dream Children recalls the memories of his early boyhood and the lonely life of his grandchildren. The visualizes how his elder brother John would carry on his head.
The writer recollects all nostalgic memories of the great house with its empty rooms, corridors, gardens, orangery and fish pond.
The theme of Lamb's essay is regret and loss; regret for unfulfilled joy, love, hope and opportunity.
These are then topics describing the theme of regret and loss at work. The team 'reverie' indicates daydreaming whereas the 'dream children' are the children of daydreaming.
In a state of reverie, Lamb has a meeting with two children who seems to belong to him.
Here humour and pathos are often allied. Lamb could not prevent his mind from passing at times to the sadder part.
There is a similarity between Alice the mother, and Alice the daughter.
Through the children, he reveals and satisfies the realities of his life. The writer's 'sister Mary' is Cousin'l Bridget.
Charles Lamb himself is 'Elia',. Elias was an Italian man. who worked as 'Charles'.
Charles Lamb is best known for his essays and for his Children's look & Tales from Shakespeare. This was co-authored with his sister Mary.
Charles Lamb was born on February 10 in London. He left for his heavenly abode on 27th Dec 1834. He is one of the most loved and reader of English essayists.
Lamb's works differed from the works of other Romantic writers of that time who often chose poetry as their mode of expression.
But in subjects and artistic ability, his body of work was similar to his contemporary.
Charles Lambis is also known as the 'Child of London'. He wrote for the children. He had a positive attitude towards life.
It is said he had lost one leg due to a bomb blast.
He is called the 'Prince of English Essayists'. His essays are the finest in English prose. He brought prose to the finest qualities of Romanticism.
We appreciate Lamb for his wisdom, for his humanity. for his genial humor.
We appreciate him for his profound pathos, for his temperament and his style."
Click here for The Money box ~ Robert Lynd
0 Comments