The Jacob's Ladder (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Denise Levertov
- First Published: 1961
- Type of Work: Poem
- Genres: Poetry
- Subjects: Poetry or poets, Dreams, Creative process, Bible, biblical imagery, or biblical symbolism
Invoking the story of Jacob's dream from Genesis 28:10-17, “The Jacob's Ladder” utilizes the dream as metaphor for poetic construction. The plot from Genesis maintains that when Jacob came to rest his head at the end of the day, he dreamed that he saw God's angels ascending and descending a great ladder reaching from Earth to the heavens. God announced to Jacob that all the land that he surveys should belong to him and his descendants, and his descendants should be so many that they would be as the dust is to the Earth. Jacob awakened and acknowledged that this place upon which he...
[The entire page is 597 words long]
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