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THE ELIZABETHAN PEOPLE
our stomackes begetteth a dismal dreame;" but his readers knew better than that what a dismal dream stood for. The Elizabethan plays abound in allusions to the fulfilment of dreams. Every one recalls Clarence's dream, and the dream of Calpurnia. Dreams were often significant in other ways. Maids hoped to dream of their future husbands on Saint Agnes's eve. "I dreamed mine eye tooth was loose, and that I thrust it out with my tongue … it foretelleth the loss of a friend." (Lyly, Sapho and Phao, iv. 3.) "They that in the morning dream of eating, Are in danger of sickness, or of beating, Or shall hear of a wedding, fresh beating." (Lyly, Mother Bombie, iii. 4.)
