Summary
The speaker envisions a beautiful summer day as the wedding of the months of May and June. May's parents are in attendance. The speaker finds herself unable to partake in the joyful atmosphere around her. Some gray rocks question her demeanor and she takes a moment to converse with herself about why she feels unhappy.
Analysis
"A Day Dream" is a poem about the passage of the seasons and, more broadly, about how to experience the present. Brontë depicts a speaker who is witnessing an exceptionally lovely summer day but feels entirely removed from it. She cannot fully embrace the moment before her because she perceives the subtle signs of its eventual end. From the speaker's perspective, the difficult fact of summer's unavoidable conclusion precludes her enjoyment of it.
The poem opens with the speaker sitting on a hillside in the summertime: "On a sunny brae alone I lay / One summer afternoon." She then employs an extended metaphor, comparing this beautiful day to the marriage of the months of May and June: "It was the marriage-time of May, / With her young lover, June." These lines primarily serve as scene-setting, giving an impression of the joyful mood of the season. In the second stanza, the speaker continues this metaphor with a description of May's father ("From her mother’s heart seemed loath to part / That queen of bridal charms,") and mother (" But her father smiled on the fairest child / He ever held in his arms.") and their contrasting attitudes about the ceremony.
In the next section, the speaker introduces some conflict. She says that the "trees did wave their plumy crests" and that "the glad birds carolled clear," further underscoring the beauty of this scene in nature. However, she comments that she "of all the wedding guests, / Was only sullen there!" This is the first emotional turn of the poem. The speaker has spent these opening lines building up the warm atmosphere of this summer afternoon, only to remark that she herself does not derive any joy from it. This moment introduces the central conflict of the poem: the speaker's inability to appreciate the present. The speaker moves on and states that "not one" other guest shared her grim demeanor. As such, a piling of "gray rocks" asks her, "What do you here?" What these personified rocks seem to question is why the speaker appears so glum and why she chose to be at this otherwise celebratory event.
The speaker has "no reply" and finds herself unsure of why she "brought a clouded eye / To greet the general glow." She agrees with the rocks and wonders what compelled her to bring her dour mood to this bright moment. This uncertainty pushes her to take a moment to reflect. She takes a seat on a "healthy bank" and, along with her heart, sinks sadly "into a reverie." This kicks off her exploration of what is driving her downtrodden feelings and what is preventing her from taking part in this summertime radiance. In these opening sections, Brontë uses personification and metaphor to humanize abstract images of the summer. The short lines and ABAB rhyme work to support the light, sing-song mood of these initial stanzas. The continual use of alliteration throughout the poem also has a similar effect.
