Dream Song 29 Setting

Where It All Goes Down

Berryman doesn't give us much in the way of setting, but with all the talk of dreams, sleep (or the lack thereof), and weeping, we get kind of an indoor, bedroom sort of feeling from this one.

The way the poem starts out, with that once upon a time feeling, gives the poem the sense that it is being spoken to someone or performed to a small group or audience. "Dream Song 29" wouldn't make a very good bedtime story, but we can almost picture the speaker reading it to a group of very confused listeners.