Giovanni Guasconti has moved to northern Italy in order to attend classes at the University of Padua, though he is originally from the southern part of the country. It sounds as though he finds the north somewhat dreary in comparison to his home. First, the climate is very different: the sun does not seem to shine as brightly in his eyes. Second, Giovanni clearly misses his home, and this is the first time he has ever really been away. Third, he recollects that a member of the family to whom the armorial crest above the door to his building once belonged was mentioned in Dante's Inferno, adding to the dismal mood of this place. Finally, the narrator describes Giovanni's apartment as "desolate and ill-furnished," unlike his home. Therefore, he has a number of reasons for which to sigh.
Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
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