The Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti A variorum edition: Edited, with textual notes and introductions, by R. W. Crump |
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 | The Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti |  |
1.
“Ye have forgotten the exhortation”—
Come blessed sleep, most full, most perfect, come;
Come sleep, if so I may forget the whole;
Forget my body and forget my soul,
Forget how long life is and troublesome.
Come happy sleep to soothe my heart or numb,
Arrest my weary spirit or control;
Till light be dark to me from pole to pole,
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Come sleep and lap me into perfect calm,
Lap me from all the world and weariness:
Come secret sleep that hidest us from harm,
Safe sheltered in a hidden cool recess:
Come heavy dreamless sleep, and close and press
Upon mine eyes thy fingers dropping balm.
| The Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti | |