Dreams, Waking Thoughts, and IncidentsBeckford, William
General
Dreams, Waking Thoughts, and Incidents
Beckford, William
Beckford, William, 1760-1844
well as my spirit, have the miraculous property of being here, there, and
everywhere.” These injunctions, you may suppose, were received in a
becoming manner, and noted all down in my pocket-book by inspiration (for
I could not see), and hurrying into the open air, I was whirled away in
the dark to Margate. Don’t ask what were my dreams thither:—nothing but
horrors, deep-vaulted tombs, and pale, though lovely figures, extended
upon them; shrill blasts that sung in my ears, and filled me with
sadness, and the recollection of happy hours, fleeting away, perhaps for
ever! I was not sorry, when the bustle of our coming-in dispelled these
phantoms. The change, however, in point of scenery was not calculated to
dissipate my gloom; for the first object in this world that presented
itself, was a vast expanse of sea, just visible by the gleamings of the
moon, bathed in watery clouds; a chill air ruffled the waves. I went to
shiver a few melancholy moments on the shore. How often did I try to
wish away the reality of my separation from those I love, and attempt to
persuade myself it was but a dream!
This morning I found myself more cheerfully disposed, by the queer Dutch
faces with short pipes and ginger-bread complexions that came smirking
and scraping to get us on board their respective vessels; but, as I had a
ship engaged for me before, their invitations were all in vain. The wind
blows fair; and, should it continue of the same mind a few hours longer,
we shall have no cause to complain of our passage. Adieu! Think of me
sometimes. If you write immediately, I shall receive your letter at the
Hague.
It is a bright sunny evening: the sea reflects a thousand glowing
colours, and, in a minute or two, I shall be gliding on its surface.
LETTER II.
OSTEND, _June_ 21_st_.
T’other minute I was in Greece, gathering the bloom of Hymettus, but now
I am landed in Flanders, smoked with tobacco, and half poisoned with
garlic. Were I to remain ten days at Ostend, I should scarcely have one
delightful vision; ’tis so unclassic a place—nothing but preposterous
Flemish roofs disgust your eyes when you cast them upwards; swaggering
Dutchmen and mongrel barbers are the principal objects they meet with
below. I should esteem myself in luck, were the nuisances of this
seaport confined only to two senses; but, alas! the apartment above my
head proves a squalling brattery, and the sounds which proceed from it
are so loud and frequent, that a person might think himself in limbo,
without any extravagance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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