 | The poems of Thomas Bailey Aldrich |  |
INSOMNIA
Slumber, hasten down this way,
And, ere midnight dies,
Silence lay upon my lips,
Darkness on my eyes.
And, ere midnight dies,
Silence lay upon my lips,
Darkness on my eyes.
Send me a fantastic dream;
Fashion me afresh;
Into some celestial thing
Change this mortal flesh.
Fashion me afresh;
Into some celestial thing
Change this mortal flesh.
Well I know one may not choose;
One is helpless still
In the purple realm of Sleep:
Use me as you will.
One is helpless still
In the purple realm of Sleep:
Use me as you will.
367
Let me be a frozen pine
In dead glacier lands;
Let me pant, a leopard stretched
On the Libyan sands.
In dead glacier lands;
Let me pant, a leopard stretched
On the Libyan sands.
Silver fin or scarlet wing
Grant me, either one;
Sink me deep in emerald glooms,
Lift me to the sun.
Grant me, either one;
Sink me deep in emerald glooms,
Lift me to the sun.
Or of me a gargoyle make,
Face of ape or gnome,
Such as frights the tavern-boor
Reeling drunken home.
Face of ape or gnome,
Such as frights the tavern-boor
Reeling drunken home.
Work on me your own caprice,
Give me any shape;
Only, Slumber, from myself
Let myself escape!
Give me any shape;
Only, Slumber, from myself
Let myself escape!
| The poems of Thomas Bailey Aldrich | |