A Book of English Essays (1600-1900
by Stanley Victor Makower (9780217423519)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: 16 SIR THOMAS BROWNE 1605-1682 ON DREAMS Half our days we pass in the shadow of the earth; and the brother of death exacteth a third part of our lives. A good part of our sleep is pieced out with visions and fantastical objects, wherein we are confessedly deceived. The day supplieth us with truths; the night with fictions and falsehoods, which uncomfortably divide the natural account of our beings. And, therefore, having passed the day in sober labours and rational inquiries of truth, we are fain to betake ourselves unto such a state of being, wherein the soberest heads have acted all the monstrosities of melancholy, and which unto open eyes are no better than folly and madness. Happy are they that go to bed with grand music, like Pythagoras, or have ways to compose the fantastical spirit, whose unruly wanderings take off inward sleep, filling our heads with St. Anthony's visions, and the dreams of Lipara in the sober chambers of rest. Virtuous thoughts of the day lay up good treasures for the night; whereby the impressions of imaginary forms arise into sober similitudes, acceptable unto our slumbering selves and preparatory unto divine impressions. Hereby Solomon's sleep was happy. Thus prepared, Jacobmight well dream of angels upon a pillow of stone. And the best sleep of Adam might be the best of any after. That there should be divine dreams seems unreasonably doubted by Aristotle. That there are demoniacal dreams we have little reason to doubt. Why may there not be angelical 1 If there be guardian spirits, they may not be inactively about us in sleep; but may sometimes order our dreams; and many strange hints, instigations, or discourses, which are so amazing unto us, may arise from such foundations. But the phantasms of sleep do commonly walk in the gr...

USD $36.00

   Dispatch: 3 to 7 business days, stock levels permitting