Dream Song 29 Sadness Quotes

These first two lines set up some expectations that go unfulfilled in the poem. First of all, that alliteration (all those repeated H sounds) gives the lines kind of a rhythmic, nursery rhyme feeling. Nursery rhymes are usually associated with childhood, and childhood is usually associated with happiness and innocence. But these lines are introducing a lasting sadness and the poem that follows doesn't feel very innocent. Even the rhythmic, nursery rhyme, song-like feeling is lost as the poem continues. Nice deke, John.

We get it. Henry is S-A-D. That being said, it is interesting that the speaker, after going into quite a bit of detail about how enduring Henry's sadness is, never tells us the cause of the sadness. Why is the speaker being so secretive? Consider this—perhaps the speaker doesn't know the cause. Remember, Henry is the speaker as well as the subject of this poem, so it does seem possible, if this is that deep, clinical kind of sadness, that Henry himself doesn't really know what's causing it.

Have you ever had the hiccups? Okay. Dumb question. Let us start again. You know how when you have the hiccups and it seems like they are never going to go away and then they stop for a minute and you think "Hey, maybe I'm okay," then Hiccup—they start right back up and it seems you will never be free of them for as long as you live? Henry's sadness is like that. There are some brief periods where it might seem like he's clear of it, but it always comes back. Yeah… that sucks.