Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1905-12-15
POETS IN DREAMLAND
WORK DONE OR IMAGINED WHILE
WRAPPED IN SLUMBeR.

the Waking of the AuthOr-The "e""
That Coleridge Lost.
In Sir Mountstuart Duffs Notes
From a Diary" it Is related that "e
late Lord Lytton, when vicerov Oh
India, had repeated to his guests Oh
one occasion poem which he profess
ed to have composed when asleep:
There are boating and sailing
And fishing for grayling
Where the blue waves roll nisntiy ."
deep Gallee,
But sweeter the places
Where adermen's braces
Are sold for boot laces in bonnie Dun-
dee.
The diarist venturcd to doubt wheth-
er the viceroy was not trying to impose
on the credulity of his friends, sus-
picion which will lie shared by most
readers.
But, whether these lines were dream
ed or not. there can be 20 doubt that
one of the most curious sections OF the
whole subject of dream work is that
which relates to the comparative value
Of work done or imagined in sleep. NO
experience is more general than the
waking from a particularly vivid dream
only to find that in the very process of
waking the whole vision, apparently so
real and strong for brief moment,
vanishes beyond recall. This dissolv-
ing touch of psychical or dream life Is
like the contact of the air with long
entombed, well preserved human body
suddenly exposed to the light Of day.
While the tomb openers gaze upon the
features so strangely preserved from
a long past day the touch of the air
does it's work, and the relic OF hui
mainly crumbles to dust.
A strange point about the difficulty
in keeping in mental grip of a dream
is that, although no detail can be re-
membered, an impression remains
which in cases that have been tested
has often turned out to be quite incor-
rect. 1t is related by Mickle, the Scot
fish poet, best known as the translator
Of the Portuguese epic, the "Lusiad"
Of Camoens. that he always regretted
he could not remember the poetry
which he composed in his sleep. 1t
was, he said. SO infinitely superior to
anything he could produce in his wax
ing hours. One morning on waking he
was lamenting, as he had so often done
before, that he should be conscious Of
having composed such sublime poetry
and yet be unable to recall a word Of
| 1t. "What! said his wife, who happen
ed to be awake. Were you writing
poetry?" "Yes," he replied, land such
| poetry that l would give the world to
remember it." "Well, then," said she,
II did luckily hear the last lines, and
am sure l remembered them exactly.
They were:
! "By heaven I'll wreak my woes
Upon the cowslip and the pale primrose!
Mr.. Mickle was probably cured Of his
habit of lamentation.
The late Lewis Carroll noted in his
"Diary" that he once heard Tennyson
relate that he had often dreamed long
passages of poetry and believed them
! to be good at the time, but could never
remember any of them on waking ex'
cept four lines which he dreamed al
ten years old, and these were the NOV
ing verses:
| May cock sparrow
Write to a barrow?
l hope you'll excuse
My infantile muse.
This, as the diarist remarks, as ar
unpublished fragment of the late lau
reate, ''may be thought interesting, bu1
not affording much promise Of his aft
err powers" On the same occasion Ten
nyson told his hearers that he once
dreamed an enormously long poem
about fairies. which began with very
long lines that gradually got shorter
and ended with fifty or sixty lines Of
two syllables each!
On the other hand, poets have occa
sionally found their dreams Of service
Southey in a letter to his brother says
II forgot my dreams and have no Dan
lei to help out my recollection, and l.
by chance l do remember them unles
they are instantly written down the i'm
preston passes away almost as light.
as the dream ITSELF" But he goes on t.
say that one or two of his dreams wer
noted at the time and were afterwart
Incorporated in scenes of his now littl
read poem, "The Curse Of Kehama.
And then, of course. there Is the ia
miliar story of Coleridge falling asleeI
one summer afternoon in quiet farm
house after reading about the Khal
Kublai in Purchas' "Pilgrmes," com
posing several hundred lines in tn
course Of a three hours sleep. waking
and at once beginning to write ther
down. only to be interrupted at til
fifty-fourth line by visitor-that ''pel
son from Porlock" whose memory
execrated by ali lovers Of poetry-wit
the result that on returning to his des
an hour later the poet found that tn
rest of his dream verse had faded froI
his memory. "Kublai Khan" remain
a melodious fragment but II the ''pel
son from Porlock" had only lost hi
way or had come to grief sufficient
cause delay Of an hour or two "
might have had completely beautif,
poem.-London Globe