COMPOSED IN A DREAM.

North Otago Times, 3 September 1910, Page 2 (Supplement)

COMPOSED IN A DREAM.

:| :,MR, LAURENCE HOUSMAN'S ■'■ STRANGE EXPERIENCE,. ■•'■ -'-(l '■'

There is an extremely interesting, literary curiosity! in''the. new isßue of " Harper's •Magazine." It is a short ,poem by Mr. Laurence Housman, but it is the circumstances under which the song was written which gives it its chief interest, : Mr, Housman, his mind occupied on literary work, had placed (says the London "Leader") writing materials by his bedside for note-making purposes. During the night he awoke suddenly ,from a dream in which, the stanzas of tho song had been sung—with t ne first verse re ' peated for chorus—by one of the characters of his Action.

While the impression'was fresh, the accompanying tune was as distinct as the words; but'of that no record could be taken. E.ven of the words certain phrases escaped before they could be committed to writing, and for these passages in. parentheses have been substituted. It may be added that the song had no apparent relation to the work on which the writer was engaged, or.with the character who was supposed to utter it. - : . .: Cases of literary inspiration occurring in a dream are not very numerous, but there are some notable instances. One 'of the best-known cases is that of Robert Louis Stevenson and ',' Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hydc," which' Mr. H. 8.. Irving has produced in London. Stevenson tells how the whole of that wonderful story came to him in a dream and it was so'vk "vid that his imagination had -very little to do in writing it down afterwards. Another of his dream stories lie was unable to finish, and he gives it in its unfinished state in one of his volumes ofesaaye. The following are two of the stanzas of Mr. Housman's,,dream-song, which he calls " A song in Winter"-

Pip-pip, look up ! From far and near The robin's voice doth crown the year And sure, it sounds so blithe of ■ cheer, What could be bolder ? " Pip-pip, look up!" he seems to say " (The world is down), the skies are

grey:. Yet—hear me '—you'll forget to say Winter is colder!"

In merry port (sic) from bough to bough, With beak and breast, you hear him now, (A gay and goodly) sight, I vow, For a beholder. (On frosty airs he warms his throat, Through tuneless woods he winds his . note, Though Sol himself) in winter coat Turns a cold shoulder. Chorus: Pip-pip, look up ! From far and near The robin's voice doth crown the year.