It is by no means an irrational fancy that, in a future existence, we shall look upon what we think our present existence, as a dream. —Edgar Allan Poe
Dylan’s wrote the words in this song but the question is whether it is a poem or a song? The words work together, not alone. The words make their own music but to focus only on the words isn’t enough.
Poetry is literature that evokes imaginative awareness of experience or a specific emotional response through language chosen and arranged for its meaning, sound, and rhythm.
Series of Dreams
(is it a poem or a song?)
I was thinking of a series of dreams
Where nothing comes up to the top.
Everything stays down where it's wounded
And comes to a permanent stop.
Wasn't thinking of anything specific,
Like in a dream, when someone wakes up and screams.
Nothing truly very scientific,
Just thinking of a series of dreams.
Thinking of a series of dreams
Where the time and the tempo drag,
And there's no exit in any direction
'Cept the one that you can't see with your eyes.
Wasn't making any great connections, Wasn't falling for any intricate schemes.
Nothing that would pass inspection,
Just thinking of a series of dreams.
Dreams where the umbrella is folded, And into the path you are hurled,
And the cards are no good that you're holding
Unless they're from another world.
Click to hear Bob Dylan’s song, Series of Dreams