Narcissus and Other Poems By E. Carpenter |
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SLEEP, SWEETLY SLEEP.
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 | Narcissus and Other Poems |  |
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SLEEP, SWEETLY SLEEP.
Sleep, sweetly sleep, while I watch over thee,
O well-beloved, beneath the falling night;
Be hushed, O winds, through glade and grove and tree,
Weave silence into sweetest melody
While I watch with delight.
O well-beloved, beneath the falling night;
Be hushed, O winds, through glade and grove and tree,
Weave silence into sweetest melody
While I watch with delight.
Sleep, sweetly sleep; and let thy softest breath
All trustfully steal forth unto the stars,
And give mine ear assurance glad that saith,—
No evil end that is akin to Death
This peaceful vision mars.
All trustfully steal forth unto the stars,
And give mine ear assurance glad that saith,—
No evil end that is akin to Death
This peaceful vision mars.
No, thou shalt wake; and though I know full well
The years shall dart between in weary dance,
Yet more I know—what none can clearly tell—
That though the strident bolts and bars of Hell
Work utmost severance,
The years shall dart between in weary dance,
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That though the strident bolts and bars of Hell
Work utmost severance,
I still to thee from age to age shall grow,
Thy name with new delight for ever twined,
Till in the distant rift that none yet know
Thy life athwart my life may inly flow,
And we be one in mind.
Thy name with new delight for ever twined,
Till in the distant rift that none yet know
Thy life athwart my life may inly flow,
And we be one in mind.
So Hope, that still is king when all else dies,
And Love, from whose large glory Hope is born,
Fix fast the happy star within my eyes
That shall not fade away until there rise
An universal morn.
And Love, from whose large glory Hope is born,
Fix fast the happy star within my eyes
That shall not fade away until there rise
An universal morn.
Then sweetly sleep! Earth, hold thy treasure fast;
Sing, planets, marshalled round in glorious state;
A whisper steals to me across the vast
To which I gladly bow my head at last:
I am content to wait.
Sing, planets, marshalled round in glorious state;
A whisper steals to me across the vast
To which I gladly bow my head at last:
I am content to wait.
| Narcissus and Other Poems | |