Beautiful Dreamer
song by Stephen Foster / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Beautiful Dreamer" is a song by Stephen Foster written about 1862. It was first published (posthumously) in 1864 by William A. Pond & Co. It has been promoted as Foster's last song, but that distinction cannot be confirmed. It is similar in some respects to his first published song, "Open They Lattice, Love". Both have a triple rhythm and share imagery of the sea and marine life.[1]
The arpeggiated accompaniment recalls bel canto opera. The dreamer in this song is either asleep or dead. The song does not distinguish. It is a song though about dissolution — of melting, of dissolving, of vanishing into mists, and, finally into death.[2] The song is not held in the highest esteem by some musicologists and has been described by one as "saccharine" and "[smacking] somewhat of the idiom of Irving Berlin."[3]