Song Analysis

I Dreamed a Dream

There was a time when men were kind
When their voices were soft
And their words inviting
There was a time when love was blind
And the world was a song
And the song was exciting
There was a time
Then it all went wrong

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving
Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung, no wine untasted

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
As they turn your dream to shame

He slept a summer by my side
He filled my days with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came

And still I dream he'll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.

This song starts off with two longer stanzas and all the other ones are 4 lines long. None of the stanzas repeat. They are all different although the phrase " I dreamed " and the word " dream " are used quite often. There doesn't seem to be a set rhyme scheme although a few of the words at the end of some lines rhyme. There also doesn't seem to be a set meter. 

The speaker of this song is a woman who is reflecting on a time in the past when she was happy and hopeful. She speaks about how she had dreams for the future but quickly realizes the reality of things and nothing turns out as she hoped. The tone of this song is sad. She had her dreams crushed. Throughout this song there are many different examples of poetic language. In the first verse/ stanza it says "There was a time when love was blind". This is an example of personification. Also in the first verse/ stanza there is an example of a metaphor. It says "And the world was a song".
The last stanza creates imagery. You can picture the terrible state that she is living in now from lines such as "from this hell i'm living".  The tigers that are mentioned in the third verse/stanza symbolize preying older men who seduce young women and get them pregnant and then abandon them. This symbolizes what happened in the past to the woman who's speaking. 

This song is from the movie Les Miserables and it is sung by the character Fantine. Fantine is singing about the heartbreak she suffers when all her dreams come crashing down. She has a child with a guy that seems perfect but it all changes when he leaves her and their child. The contents of this song is all about how Fantine thought the future would be wonderful but how nothing turns out as she had hoped. It is a very powerful song that expresses Fantines emotions. Everytime this song is sung the message is the same. Its very emotional and brings tears to peoples eyes quite often. I like this song because it is so strong and powerful but there is also something that i don't like. I don't like how she has completely given up on everything. The dream of a great future is only one dream. But when that doesn't turn out as she hoped she gives up on everything and this eventually leads to her death.