The Book of Kings "is a work created by King James I of Scotland in 1424 and is considered a masterpiece of 15th century romantic fantasy poetry. Spearing highly praised "The Book of Kings" in "Medieval Fantasy Poetry", believing that it demonstrated the innovative use of Chaucer's dream poetry by 15th century poets. However, Spearing has reservations about whether "The Book of Kings" is strictly a dream poem. In his 2000 article, he corrected his previous view and regarded it as a narrative poem containing dreams. The author of this article believes that "The Book of Kings" is not only a dreamlike poem, but also a "meta dreamlike poem" about the creation of dreamlike poetry. James I focused on the formula of dreamlike poetry in his poetry, exploring the possibility of writing new content in dreamlike poetry by reproducing the process of writing dreamlike poetry.

reading books

In the "Reading Books" chapter, the narrator reads "The Comfort of Philosophy" on a sleepless night, and the fate story of Boethius in the book inspires him to reflect on his own destiny, thus beginning his poetry creation. The narrator discovers two themes in the reading: the impermanence of fate and the motivation for writing. The story of Boethius makes the narrator aware of the impact of fate on everyone's life, and at the same time, Boethius inspires the narrator to seek comfort through philosophy. After reading, the narrator decides to write his own story through the illusion of the bell ringing, which reflects the poet James' desire to write about his personal experiences. James abandoned the mode of Chaucer's dreamlike poetry in his poetry and directly transitioned from reading to writing, demonstrating his profound thinking on poetry creation. The Comfort of Philosophy not only inspires the narrator's contemplation of fate, but also enlightens James on the importance of recording personal destiny through words.

Writing Dream Poems

The chapter on writing dreamlike poems in "The Book of Kings" provides a detailed description of the love dreamlike poems written by the narrator. Starting from section 14 until the end of the text, it is divided into three parts: pre dream overture, dream and post dream notes, as well as a postscript. Unlike Chaucer's dreamlike poetry, James' narrator is not only an observer but also a participant, and his dreams have had a profound impact on his life. In the prelude to the dream, the narrator expresses his feelings about life and writing before starting to write, and prays for inspiration from the gods. Scholars generally consider sections 1-19 as prefaces to poetry, with sections 14-19 serving as prefaces to books written by narrators. The narrator's book is a memoir, written from his childhood experiences, including imprisonment and love, similar to James' own experiences.