A Dreamer’s Chamber Music



Behold, the dreamer dreameth !
Composing chamber music.
From deep recesses of the mind,
Emerging something rustic .

Nocturnal nocturnes in my dreams,
Languido e rubato.
They come to me like rapid streams,
Expressively obbligato .

Tympanic symphony in my ears,
Prolonged like sweet legato.
Smoothly flowing, my eyes moving,
Like a dancer’s minuetto.

Now I’m carefree, cheerful, festive,
Like a merry rondo.
Smiling happily in my dreams,
Da Vinci’s Florentine Giocondo.

So if music be the Spriggan Sap of sleep,
Give me a Cornish harp.
And while dreaming, fingering A-minor,
I’ll, eyes closed, play in G-sharp.

About this poem

I sincerely believe that all musical compositions, all forms of art, all things created, originate in the deep recesses of the sleeper’s mind where, like fire ever burning, and cauldron ever bubbling, they are forever toiling; and where, from latent, hidden caverns, they manifest themselves in waking realms, elegantly arranged, yet somewhat distorted. This poem is called “A Dreamer’s Chamber Music” because it emerges from hidden chambers, and because the poem is suggestive of the dreamer’s dreaming ears resonating with musical instruments while asleep. The reference to the Cornish Spriggan Sap suggests that the REM dream state is alchemical in nature, something indeed, quite magical. 

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Written on December 01, 2021

Submitted by karlcfolkes on December 01, 2021

Modified by karlcfolkes on May 31, 2023

35 sec read
207

Quick analysis:

Scheme XABA CBCB XXXB XBCB XDXD
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 620
Words 117
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Karl Constantine FOLKES

Retired educator of Jamaican ancestry with a lifelong interest in composing poetry dealing particularly with the metaphysics of self-reflection; completed a dissertation in Children’s Literature in 1991 at New York University entitled: An Analysis of Wilhelm Grimm’s ‘Liebe Mili’ (translated into English as “Dear Mili”), Employing Von Franzian Methodological Processes of Analytical Psychology. The subject of the dissertation concerned the process of Individuation. more…

All Karl Constantine FOLKES poems | Karl Constantine FOLKES Books

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    "A Dreamer’s Chamber Music" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 31 Oct. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/114902/a-dreamer’s-chamber-music>.

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