Algy swung to and fro in his hammock until eventually the soothing effect of the motion, combined wi
Algy swung to and fro in his hammock until eventually the soothing effect of the motion, combined with the strange tropical music and the fragrant sea breezes, lulled him to sleep. He dreamed the dreams of a happy fluffy bird on a magical tropical island, until suddenly… he woke up with a terrible bump.Possibly he had swung a just a wee bit too vigorously in his sleep, or perhaps the sea breezes had strengthened just a wee bit too much… or maybe the hammock had simply given way, having had enough of carrying the weight of a large fluffy bird. Whatever the cause, he had landed right on his tail feathers, and he rather wished that he hadn’t.However, what is done cannot be undone, and as Algy was not sure how to refix the hammock safely, he decided that as he was already on the ground he might as well rest there for a wee while, to recover from the shock of his rude awakening. In the distance the peculiar tropical music was still playing, and at times it sounded like “a thousand twangling instruments”… Algy was inevitably reminded of Caliban’s famous verse, for he too wished that he could sleep again in his hammock, and return to his dreaming:Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises,Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight, and hurt not.Sometimes a thousand twangling instrumentsWill hum about mine ears, and sometime voices,That if I then had waked after long sleepWill make me sleep again; and then in dreamingThe clouds methought would open and show richesReady to drop upon me, that when I wakedI cried to dream again.[Algy is of course quoting from Shakespeare’s play The Tempest, Act 3 Scene 2.] -- source link
#tropical island#shakespeare#caliban#the tempest#poetry#fluffy bird#hammock#falling down#tropical plants#dreaming#original content