The Sleeper Has Awakened

[The_Hamster_King]

The Sleeper Has Awakened

I’ve seen this phrase in a variety of different contexts over the years. Where did it originate?

[barker]

Not sure if its the first use of it, but it is in Frank Herbert’s Dune.

[Alias]

I don’t know where it ORIGINALLY came from, but I do know it’s quite an important statement in Frank Herbert’s book Dune.
The main character says it in both book and film when his eyes are opened and he sees his purpose.

[barker]

Here is the Context in Dune

** Duke**: “Without change,
something sleeps inside us,
and seldom awakens.
The sleeper must awaken.”

Paul: Father, the sleeper has awakened.

[Satchmo]

I also am not sure if this is the ORIGINAL cite, but there is an excellent book by none other than H.G. Wells by that very name. It was also an expression in the book for something that would either never happen or would only happen a long long time from ‘now’. The story involves a man who experiments with some new science and keeps himself awake for some ridiculous period of time, then drops into a coma afterwards. Kept alive for several hundred years, on being awakened, he finds his personal estate amounts to most of the world. A bit dated, but a good read. IIRC

[stuyguy]

Not being a SF fan, I am more familiar with the phrase “…waking a sleeping giant.” That phrase is most often used to describe Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. I think it is often attributed to General (?) Yamimoto (?), but it may not have actually originated with him.

Sorry about the ?'s. WWII history is not my specialty.

[pluto]

Further back in history is the Bach cantata No. 140, Sleepers Awake! written in 1731. Bach carelessly omitted writing in English, however.

Cantata No. 140, “Wachet auf,” is one of Bach’s most famous and best-loved works. It is a chorale cantata, like Cantata No. 1, and uses a very famous chorale, entitled “Wachet auf,” which appears in many modern Christian hymnals. Like the chorale heard in Cantata No. 1, this chorale was written by Philipp Nicolai. There is a very sad story attached to this particular chorale. (The same story, in fact, applies to the chorale which is used in Cantata No.1, “Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern.”) Here’s the story:

Once upon a time, in the late 16th century, a terrible plague spread through parts of Europe, including a town in Germany called Unna. Approximately 1300 residents of Unna died during this outbreak. Philipp Nicolai (1556-1608) was the pastor of a church in this town. He, too, became ill, and figured he was also going to die. While he was lying around anticipating his death, he recorded his meditations in a journal. When to his surprise he recovered from his illness, he wrote two hymns (“Wachet auf” and “Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern”) and attached them to the journal he kept during the plague. Both hymns have now achieved immortality as a result.

[Spatial_Rift_47]

I’ve heard it said twice on the anime series Dragon Ball Z, to describe a fantastical transformation resulting in a tremendous increase in power. I’m not sure, but the translators probably inserted it in place of an analogous Japanese phrase. I doubt the Japanese writers knew of that particular phrase.

[mbh]

The phrase “wake a sleeping giant” pre-dates Yamamoto. Napoleon Bonaparte is alleged to have said, “China is a sleeping giant. Let her lie!”