What is the theme of the poem "The Slave's Dream" by HW Longfellow?

The theme of the poem "The Slave's Dream", by Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow, is one of escape.

Slaves did not have
a very easy life. The toils and tribulations that they faced on a daily basis were
horrendous. It took a very strong person to survive the life of a
slave.

The slave in Longfellow's poem has found a way to
survive: escape. But, this is not the type of escape that would justify (wrongly)
beatings. Instead, this type of escape was one that existed solely in the mind of the
slave. A place an owner could not see and punish for.

In
the end, the slave was able to escape the his life of slavery- through his dream and his
death. One can tell that the slave had a very hard
life:

He did
not feel the driver's whip,
Nor the burning heat of day;

His life ended, though, in a
way in which he was finally able to find peace:

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A worn-out fetter, that the soul
Had
broken and thrown away!