Talk:The Dream of Gerontius (poem)

I think that this a beautiful, very well written wiki article! You included a lot of detail, and helped me understand it without actually reading it, well done!- Rawror54 (talk) 03:31, 30 May 2015 (UTC)

The Wikipedia article for “The Dream of Geronitus (poem)” is very good so far. It has a lot of summary, which is nice, but it doesn’t seem to have any structure. It skips around a good deal, leaving many sentences feeling out of place. Having one section each for the summary of the poem, and the history of the author writing the poem would be much better than having them be jumbled together, alternating every other sentence. The summary on the poem’s meaning, I feel, should come after the history behind the poem. Showing what the poems about would feel less out of place if we knew more about the poem and the author who wrote it. With the author’s life history we’d be able to get to know the author more—and it would give us insight into why he wrote it. If we knew the social ‘goings-on’ at the time it was written it would tell us why this poem got written. It is important to know about the author to better understand the deeper meaning behind the poem.

Quick Summary of article:

About the Author: The “Dream of Gerontius” was written by John Henry Newman in 1865. Prior to writing this play, John Henry Newman, born in 1801 in London, was… After that he did… Etc. While John Henry Newman was living his life in London, … was happening. This led to him deciding to do… About the Poem: Many people have theorized that “The Dream of Gerontius” is about… but in actuality it is about… (Also along with the meaning of the poem would be the style and structure).

JjoeE360 (talk) 00:28, 9 May 2015 (UTC)

My group, comprised of four total individuals, plan on adding in a section with a summary of each individual "phase" of the poem. We are also planning on straightening up the information that is already on the page, by adding in separate sections for the poem's summary and its history and background. Her is what we currently have for the summary of the first three "phases" of the poem:

"First Phase

Gerontius is a dying man, who on his death bed in his final moments prays to Jesus and Mary for protection. Gerontius isn’t confident with where he’s going in the afterlife and acknowledges he could be going to hell. The Priest’s assistants pray to God, listing all the figures from the Bible who were provided with similar passages into Heaven. The Priests gives one last prayer for him as Gerontius passes away.

Second Phase

Gerontius’s soul awakens in his deceased body, feeling “refreshed.” Now awake as just a soul he feels free of time and has a new sense of freedom. Gerontius cannot tell if he’s alive or dead but assumes he’s not dead because he feels nothing out of place. He believes he could get up if only he willed it but finds that “I cannot stir a hand or foot.” All of this begins to disorient him and he begins to feel as if he’s floating through space, or possibly that space is floating from away him. An angel appears just as Gerontius begins to lose his mind. The angel tells Gerontius that the angel has been watching over him since birth and now the work is done. The angel goes onto explain that throughout Gerontius’ life, the angel has hung around to keep a balance of truth and sin, to never let Gerontius fall too far down the wrong way. Gerontius finally accepts after talking to an angel that he is dead.

Third Phase

Gerontius’ soul attempts to engage in “conscious communion” with the Angel, to which the angel replies that he cannot grant him this “wish”. The soul then states that he shall speak, and proceeds to ask what is keeping him from being with God. The Angel states that Gerontius has barely left the physical realm behind, and goes on to explain that time and other such things are merely constructs made by humans, and no longer apply in the afterlife. He also explains that the only thing keeping Gerontius from God is his own thought. Gerontius also asks the Angel why he no longer fears meeting God, and instead, feels a sense of “joy” in their potential encounter. The Angel tells the soul that its sense of joy is a sort of reward given by the divine Judge for forestalling the agony and bitterness of death."

Please feel free to provide criticism on our plans.

"Fourth Phase

The soul of Gerontius and the Angel arrive at “the judgment-court” where demons have assembled. The court is an old region that Satan used to run and used the court to attack people like Job. Satan’s legions now run this area in hopes of “gathering souls for hell.” They overhear the demons talking and laughing about Jesus’ death. The demons mock those afraid of hell for being cowards because they turn to religion not because of love of the Lord but because of fear of the unknown. The Soul of Gerontius asks the Angel why all of his senses still work except sight, “All has been darkness since I left the earth; Shall I remain thus sight-bereft all through my penance-time?” The Angel explains that his soul now exists in a world where he doesn’t need senses but on the day of resurrection he will regain “All thou hast lost, new made and glorified.” As for his sight he will remain blind through purgatory because purgatory “Is fire without its light.” The soul takes this in stride, “I am not worthy e’er to see again/The face of day. ” Despite being blind, Gerontius is told that he will see God for a split second during judgment.

Fifth Phase

The Soul and the Angel move onward into the House of Judgment, passing The First Choir of Angelicals who they overhear singing the praises of God. The Angel explains that buildings in the afterlife are not made of material but made of life, “Holy, blessed and immortal beings/Who hymn their Maker’s praise continually.” The Second and Third Choirs of Angelicals are passed. The Third Choir sings about the impeding fate of Gerontius, singing about the double agony of the body and soul. The Angel tells Gerontius about the beauty of being able to see God. The mere sight of God will fill him with love but also make him sick knowing that he committed sins. The piercing eyes of God will have such an effect that it will hurt to even be in his presence knowing he let God down. The contrast between wanting to keep seeing God and feeling his love versus the shame and disgrace of having to look at the deity he let down is where purgatory really lies. They arrive at the Sacred Stairs of the Presence-Chamber where Angels line the stairs on either side to help guide the way. As the fifth phase ends, the Fourth and Fifth Choirs of Angelicals arrive to sing to the Soul of Gerontius as he prepares to climb the stairs.

Sixth Phase

The Soul of Gerontius hears voice which the Angel explains are the voices of his friends back on Earth who are gathered around his bed. The last person the Soul meets is the Angel of the Agony, an angel who pleads with God to save all who are about to receive judgment. The Soul of Gerontius asks to be taken down below and let him be so that even in the harshest of pains he can be left alone to sing the praises of God.

Seventh Phase

The Angel asks that the “golden prison ope its gates” and allow the Soul of Gerontius into the realm of Purgatory. The Angel asks for them to take care of him until the day he is allowed to leave into heaven at which point the Angel will return to “reclaim it for the courts of light.” The Souls in Purgatory recite their mantra stating that the Lord will come for them and that they will wake up the next morning to find themselves filled with the Lord’s mercy and be allowed admittance into heaven. As the poem comes to an end, the Angel softly drops the Soul of Gerontius, off into Purgatory. The Angel tells him that the Angels who run Purgatory will tend to him and nurse him so he becomes ready to enter Heaven. He offers one last goodbye: “Farewell, but not for ever! brother dear,

      Be brave and patient on thy bed of sorrow;

Swiftly shall pass thy night of trial here,

      And I will come and wake thee on the morrow.”

Remainder of the phases for the summary

Praise to the Holiest in the height

This article needs an explanation of its connection with the hymn "Praise to the Holiest in the height", which redirects here. - BobKilcoyne (talk) 02:53, 1 January 2017 (UTC)

Gerontius

There doesn't seem to be an explanation of the name - is it from the old British king Geruntius? [ed. - there was also a 5thC Monophysite named Gerontius.] Shtove 01:45, 13 April 2020 (UTC)