Consternation

One night, I dreamed I had made a pact with the devil for my soul.

I gave him my violin to see if he could play.

How great was my astonishment on hearing a sonata so wonderful and so beautiful, played with such great art and intelligence, as I had never even conceived in my boldest flights of fantasy.

I felt enraptured, transported, enchanted: my breath failed me, and I awoke.

–Tartini’s Dream by Louis-Léopold Boilly (1824)