Research in dream cultures has been gaining a certain dynamic over the past years. Starting from Freud's premises, the focus has primarily been on dream representations in modern literature. However, what about the knowledge and poetics of dreams in writings from the premodern era? The present contributions pursue this question, covering a period extending from Dante to Descartes. While dream visions serve as a mediator between earthly existence and the beyond during the late Middle Ages, this nexus slackens in Renaissance poetry as they assume multiple functions. On the one hand, the gates of dreams are opened up for heterotopic worlds; on the other, dreams become the centre of representation as a medium in its own right. Lastly, and importantly, dreams serve as a vehicle for political allegories.