My lady came and found me dead

Mantua (setting) · c. 1595 (play)

I dreamt my lady came and found me dead,— Strange dream, that gives a dead man leave to think!— And breath’d such life with kisses in my lips, That I reviv’d, and was an emperor.

Original text — The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, William Shakespeare

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Source: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare — William Shakespeare, c. 1593–1607. Romeo and Juliet, V.i
Rights: Public domain (author died 100+ years ago)
Record type: Literary dream
Place: Mantua (setting) · British
Date: c. 1595 (play)
Uncertainty: Moderate — Fictional dream; it inverts what is about to happen.
Imagery: Partner · The dead · Ruler
Feelings: Joy · Tenderness

How traditions have read this kind of dream

Psychological

Dreams of the dead returning are widely reported after bereavement. Ellis noted how such dreams often move, over years, from disbelief to quiet acceptance; many people describe them as comforting rather than frightening.

Ellis (1911), ch. VIII

Mythological

In Homer, dreams pass through gates of horn and ivory; across many cultures the dead were believed to visit the living in sleep, and dreams were a place where the two could meet.

Odyssey XIX

Chinese traditions

Chinese poets wrote dreams of the departed as acts of remembrance: Su Shi’s “Ten years, living and dead” and Du Fu’s “My old friend entered my dream” are read to this day as elegies.

Su Shi (1075); Du Fu (759)

These are cultural lenses, not a diagnosis.

Dreams that share its images

My mother lacked a pair of gloves London, England · 29 June 1667
Thou art but a dead man Gerar, Canaan · undated narrative
My sister came through the keyhole Ithaca (setting) · c. 8th century BCE
The dead emperor came back in anger Luoyang, China · c. 180
Cooking rice in a stone mortar Jianghuai region, China · c. 800 (Tang)
I no longer dream of the Duke of Zhou State of Lu, China · c. 5th century BCE