And the Seventh Dream is the Dream of Isis

Today I will analyze a Surrealist poem in a Freudian context. I will attempt to discover some Freudian influences on the poem itself, whether those influences be directly from Freud or indirectly from Breton's theories. The poem I have chosen is "And the Seventh Dream is the Dream of Isis" by David Gascoyne.

Throughout the poem there is the obvious presence of juxtaposition, an indirect influence from Freud through Breton's writings. Take, for example, these few lines found towards the end of part 3 of the poem:

large quantities of rats disguised as pigeons
were sold to various customers from neighbouring towns
who were adepts at painting gothic letters on screens
and at tying up parcels with pieces of grass

This excerpt exemplifies the Surrealist conception of juxtaposition perfectly. There is the juxtaposition of the basic shop-exchange with the product of a rat disguised as a pigeon. There is also the juxtaposition of the simple mailing of a letter with the act of tying up the letter with strands of grass. These juxtapositions help us identify Freud's influences on Surrealism in an actual work of art, instead of just the theories of Breton. As Gascoyne put Surrealist theories into practice, he also allowed Freud's influences on the movement to become a reality.

David Gascoyne

But Freud's influences on this poem go beyond the indirect. Using the same excerpt that was quoted above, we can also begin to understand how Freud's study of dreams influenced the poem. According to Freud in chapter 6.A.I. of the Interpretation of Dreams

Starting from an element of a dream, the path of association leads to a number of dream-thoughts; and from a single dream-thought to several elements of a dream.

In this section of his work, Freud describes something that is somewhat obvious to the average dreamer: dreams can flow in a very nonsensical way, but a certain amount of logic can be derived from this nonsense. Let us use the poem as an example of this (and therefore an example of Freud's influence on the poem). The poem moves from the unusual shop-exchange to the peculiar daily life of the customers. Although rats dressed as pigeons is an outrageous image, the poem still flows in a somewhat logical manner: that is, from a customer making a purchase to a customer mailing a letter. This type of rapid succession happens throughout the poem, with equally remarkable details; and although the details are remarkable, just as the details of a dream are, the succession of these unique occurrences follows a logical path, just as Freud describes. In the same way that one dream-thought will inevitably lead to several dream elements, Gascoyne's descriptions inevitably lead to other, somewhat related descriptions.

So far, we have analyzed this poem and discovered that Freud did in fact have some major influences on it. In my following posts, I will attempt to elaborate on this poem and perhaps discover more Freudian influences.