MORPHEUS, one of the sons of the god Somnus, was the god of dreams. He lived in a cave in a hollow mountain, from the bottom of which flowed the stream Lethe, the river of forgetfulness. His couch was ebony, his coverlet the color of smoke (Met XI.592-636).

Juno sends her messenger to wake Morpheus and to command him to enter the drowned body of Ceys, in which guise Morpheus was to appear before Alcyone and tell her the truth concerning her husband's death, BD 136-211. The narrator, who suffers from insomnia, asks Morpheus to send him sleep, in return for which he will give the god a feather bed made of imported black satin trimmed with gold and pillows covered with pillow cases of fine Rennes linen, BD 242-269. [Alcione: Ceys: Juno]

The name appears once initially, BD 167, and three times in final rhyming position, BD 136, 242, 265.