Lyric Poem · Dreams & Sleep

I Dream’d in a Dream

by Walt Whitman

I DREAM’D in a dream, I saw a city invincible to the attacks of the whole of the rest of

the

earth;

I dream’d that was the new City of Friends;

Nothing was greater there than the quality of robust love—it led the rest;

It was seen every hour in the actions of the men of that city,

And in all their looks and words. 5

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“I Dream’d in a Dream” by Walt Whitman — quilloak.com/poems/i-dreamd-in-a-dream

Quick facts

Poem: I Dream’d in a Dream
Poet: Walt Whitman
Length: 7 lines
Form: Lyric Poem, Short Poems
Themes: Dreams & Sleep, Love, Friendship, Short

Craft notes

How this poem works

Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.

Shape: 7 lines · 2 stanzas of 3–4 lines
End rhyme: No regular perfect end rhyme. The poem may still be using slant rhyme, assonance, or internal echo, which this check does not score.

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Text, source & rights

A traceable edition

Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.

Author record: Walt Whitman1819–1892
Source record: PoetryDBI Dream’d in a Dream by walt-whitman, PoetryDB transcription
Display decision: Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record: Not recorded in the imported source
Text fingerprint: SHA-256 feb0d93b632a6b6e…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.