 | Poems by Elizabeth Akers (Florence Percy) |  |
177
SLEEP.
Sleep, beloved! the night has come;
Vanished the sunset's golden gleam;
Drowned in darkness, the earth is dumb,—
All but the wind and the lulling stream:
Sleep, beloved! and, haply, dream,—
Dream and dream
Till the morning again shall beam.
Vanished the sunset's golden gleam;
Drowned in darkness, the earth is dumb,—
All but the wind and the lulling stream:
Sleep, beloved! and, haply, dream,—
Dream and dream
Till the morning again shall beam.
Think of the ocean, which evermore
Tosses and strives like a restless soul;
Listen its far, continuous roar,
And its slumberous sigh on the rocky shoal:
Think of the billows which, sobbing, roll,—
Roll and roll,
Finding never their long-sought goal.
Tosses and strives like a restless soul;
Listen its far, continuous roar,
And its slumberous sigh on the rocky shoal:
Think of the billows which, sobbing, roll,—
Roll and roll,
Finding never their long-sought goal.
Think of the forests, so green and dark
Stretching a many miles away,
Waving their myriad leaves; and hark!
Hear their hum as the soft winds play,
And watch the swing of the boughs that sway,—
Sway and sway
Upward and downward the livelong day.
Stretching a many miles away,
Waving their myriad leaves; and hark!
Hear their hum as the soft winds play,
178
Sway and sway
Upward and downward the livelong day.
Think of the small and steady rain,
Falling fast when the black clouds meet,
Making the glad leaves dance again
With its thrilling touch and its murmur sweet;
Hear on the roof the thick drops beat,—
Beat and beat,
Patting like millions of fluttering feet.
Falling fast when the black clouds meet,
Making the glad leaves dance again
With its thrilling touch and its murmur sweet;
Hear on the roof the thick drops beat,—
Beat and beat,
Patting like millions of fluttering feet.
Think of the wastes of waving grass,
Far on the wide, wide prairies seen,
Broken to waves as the breezes pass,
Ploughed into furrows of golden green;
How to their kisses its tassels lean,—
Lean and lean,
Rolling in ripples of changing sheen.
Far on the wide, wide prairies seen,
Broken to waves as the breezes pass,
Ploughed into furrows of golden green;
How to their kisses its tassels lean,—
Lean and lean,
Rolling in ripples of changing sheen.
Sleep, beloved! thy slow lids close,—
Faithful vigils my eyes shall keep;
Drowsily drooping in dim repose,
Poppies pale on thy pillow weep;
Cradled in slumberous thoughts to sleep,—
Sleep and sleep,
While the midnight is dark and deep!
Faithful vigils my eyes shall keep;
Drowsily drooping in dim repose,
Poppies pale on thy pillow weep;
Cradled in slumberous thoughts to sleep,—
Sleep and sleep,
While the midnight is dark and deep!
| Poems by Elizabeth Akers (Florence Percy) | |