The Norfolk weekly news., 1900-10-11
INSPIRED BY DREAMS
TRlUMPHS OF THE BRAIN ASLEEP
OVER THE BRAIN AWAKE.
Dramatic Achievements That owe
Their Being to the Mysterious
Workings OF the Mind Under the
subtle Influence of sIumber,


Subtle influence of slumber.
There are numerous authentic cases
in which, inspired by n dream, a per.
son has achieved In sleep something
that he had utterly failed over when
awake and certainly more than one
where an artistic triumph has resulted.
No doubt, too, there have been In
stances Of the kind where the mystery
Of such an achievement has remained
an Irritating problem, as very nearly
happened in respect to an artist whose
pictures sold well and whose genius
for color combinations was considered
as astonishing as his output.
The painter used to tell the creepy
| story Of how, going into his studio aft.
er breakfast, he would often stand
| spellbouDd ut the fact that some super
natural double had been hard at
work upon his canvas during the night,
more than once obtaining cleverly an
effect In scheme or coloring that he had
strained after for days in vain. Here
was something to make the strongest
brain reel.
AS 1t continued at intervals after he
had tried locking the studio door and
placing the key under his pillow, the
effect can be better imagined than de-
scribed, and 1t was only q chance acci-
dent that at length burst the bubble.
He got up one morning to find his
dressing gown streaked with dry car
,t,,. r,,n "a y.
same material lay strewn about his
easel below. Impelled by dream, he
had gone down there In the night tc
paint, trodden upon the pigment, and,
automatonlike, picked up the pieces be-
fore retiring again. And precisely the
same thing is known to have happened
to q we'll known worker in mosaics
some years ago. His mind continued
to work out schemes after his body
had Struck" and he would proceed to
his workroom and arrange designs, the
effect Of which simply stupefied him
next morning.
At least one enduring piece Of music
owes its inspiration and production to
q dream In the same dramatic way.
The singular distinction, in fact, is
claimed for several. 1t occurs at the
end Of q famous Russian opera. Fo.
weeks the composer had struggled with
his finale and had all but given it up
In despair. The spirit of a certain
theme danced vaguely through his
overworked brain, but always eluded
him when he went to set it down fo7
the orchestra.
One night, as he lay asleep, it came
to him, grandly definite. He dreamed
that it was an accomplished fact on
paper. Events showed that he must
have gone down stairs, played 1t tri-
umphantly over on his organ several
times and then written down the
chords that had caused him so much
anxiety. Next morning the score sheets
were found neatly dotted and the finale
a great success; but, although his wife
had heard the organ going and even
remembered the tune played, the COM
poser himself could only recollect the
dream itself and was absolutely at a
loss to account for the position in
which he was found-fast asleep over
the keys. The brain had succumbed
Immediately the dream inspiration lad
| taken practical shape.
Equally dramatic, again, Is the sto-
ry often told Of a struggling musi-
| clan who had written song which he
could not induce any music publisher
to risk publishing. The fact had prey
ed on his mind. One night he dreamed
that he had written pathetic letter to
q popular singer, inclosed 1t with his
scorned masterpiece, walked all the
way to the vocalist's house at Hamp-
stead and pushed his envelope through
the letter slit there. He recollected lit
tie Of it next morning, not having oc.
casion to miss his manuscript, and
stoutly denied bis landlords assertion
that he had left his bedroom and gone
for a nocturnal stroll. Shortly after
ward, however, he was astonished at
receiving a check and ticket for a
concert, and then, especially when he
heard his own song rendered at the
concert, it all flashed back to him. He
had unconsciously acted upon his
dream-owed his stroke Of luck purely
to a somnambulistic inspiration.
1t goes without saying, too, that the
most humorous things are occasionally
done by persons who retire to rest with
a fixed intention for the morrow In
their minds and are discovered work.
ing out the scheme In their sleep.
The writer knows gentleman-nev,
er suspected Of acting upon inspira-
tions evolved In his slumber-who had
laid in a stock Of enamel paints, with
which he intended to decorate his
rooms after a pattern not yet decided
upon. Some fantastic notion presum
ably must have presented itself as he
slept All unconsciously he proceeded
down stairs In the small hours, mixed
all the colors together In bowl an6
started to daub the doors and walls
with considerably more determination
than taste. The result was a polychro
matte chaos. to say nothing Of a bad
shock for the gentleman, who spranl
out Of his dream at the sound Of a CRY
from his startled wife.-Philadelph