 | The complete poetical writings of J. G. Holland |  |
498
SLEEPING AND DREAMING.
I softly sink into the bath of sleep:
With eyelids shut, I see around me close
The mottled, violet vapors of the deep,
That wraps me in repose.
With eyelids shut, I see around me close
The mottled, violet vapors of the deep,
That wraps me in repose.
I float all night in the ethereal sea
That drowns my pain and weariness in balm,
Careless of where its currents carry me,
Or settle into calm.
That drowns my pain and weariness in balm,
Careless of where its currents carry me,
Or settle into calm.
That which the ear can hear is silent all;
But, in the lower stillness which I reach,
Soft whispers call me, like the distant fall
Of waves upon the beach.
But, in the lower stillness which I reach,
Soft whispers call me, like the distant fall
Of waves upon the beach.
Now like the mother who with patient care
Has soothed to rest her faint, o'erwearied boy,
My spirit leaves the couch, and seeks the air
For freedom and for joy.
Has soothed to rest her faint, o'erwearied boy,
My spirit leaves the couch, and seeks the air
For freedom and for joy.
Drunk up like vapors by the morning sun
The past and future rise and disappear;
And times and spaces gather home, and run
Into a common sphere.
The past and future rise and disappear;
And times and spaces gather home, and run
Into a common sphere.
My youth is round me, and the silent tomb
Has burst to set its fairest prisoner free,
And I await her in the dewy gloom
Of the old trysting tree.
Has burst to set its fairest prisoner free,
And I await her in the dewy gloom
Of the old trysting tree.
499
I mark the flutter of her snowy dress,
I hear the tripping of her fairy feet,
And now, pressed closely in a pure caress,
With ardent joy we meet.
I hear the tripping of her fairy feet,
And now, pressed closely in a pure caress,
With ardent joy we meet.
I tell again the story of my love,
I drink again her lip's delicious wine,
And, while the same old stars look down above,
Her eyes look up to mine.
I drink again her lip's delicious wine,
And, while the same old stars look down above,
Her eyes look up to mine.
I dream that I am dreaming, and I start;
Then dream that nought so real comes in dreams;
Then kiss again to reassure my heart
That she is what she seems.
Then dream that nought so real comes in dreams;
Then kiss again to reassure my heart
That she is what she seems.
Our steps tend homeward. Lingering at the gate,
I breathe, and breathe again, my fond good-night.
She shuts the cruel door, and still I wait
To watch her window-light.
I breathe, and breathe again, my fond good-night.
She shuts the cruel door, and still I wait
To watch her window-light.
I see the shadow of her dainty head,
On curtains that I pray her hand may stir,
Till all is dark; and then I seek my bed
To dream I dream of her.
On curtains that I pray her hand may stir,
Till all is dark; and then I seek my bed
To dream I dream of her.
Like the swift moon that slides from cloud to cloud,
With only hurried space to smile between,
I pierce the phantoms that around me crowd,
And glide from scene to scene.
With only hurried space to smile between,
I pierce the phantoms that around me crowd,
And glide from scene to scene.
I clasp warm hands that long have lain in dust,
I hear sweet voices that have long been still,
And earth and sea give up their hallowed trust
In answer to my will.
I hear sweet voices that have long been still,
And earth and sea give up their hallowed trust
In answer to my will.
500
And now, high-gazing toward the starry dome,
I see three airy forms come floating down—
The long-lost angels of my early home—
My night of joy to crown.
I see three airy forms come floating down—
The long-lost angels of my early home—
My night of joy to crown.
They pause above, beyond my eager reach,
With arms enwreathed and forms of heavenly grace;
And smiling back the love that smiles from each,
I see them, face to face.
With arms enwreathed and forms of heavenly grace;
And smiling back the love that smiles from each,
I see them, face to face.
They breathe no language, but their holy eyes
Beam an embodied blessing on my heart,
That warm within my trustful bosom lies,
And never will depart.
Beam an embodied blessing on my heart,
That warm within my trustful bosom lies,
And never will depart.
I drink the effluence, till through all my soul
I feel a flood of peaceful rapture flow,
That swells to joy at last, and bursts control,
And I awake; but lo!
I feel a flood of peaceful rapture flow,
That swells to joy at last, and bursts control,
And I awake; but lo!
With eyelids shut, I hold the vision fast,
And still detain it by my ardent prayer,
Till faint and fainter grown, it fades at last
Into the silent air.
And still detain it by my ardent prayer,
Till faint and fainter grown, it fades at last
Into the silent air.
My God! I thank Thee for the bath of sleep,
That wraps in balm my weary heart and brain,
And drowns within its waters still and deep
My sorrow and my pain.
That wraps in balm my weary heart and brain,
And drowns within its waters still and deep
My sorrow and my pain.
I thank Thee for my dreams, which loose the bond
That binds my spirit to its daily load,
And give it angel wings, to fly beyond
Its slumber-bound abode.
That binds my spirit to its daily load,
And give it angel wings, to fly beyond
Its slumber-bound abode.
501
I thank Thee for these glimpses of the clime
That lies beyond the boundaries of sense,
Where I shall wash away the stains of time
In floods of recompense:—
That lies beyond the boundaries of sense,
Where I shall wash away the stains of time
In floods of recompense:—
Where, when this body sleeps to wake no more,
My soul shall rise to everlasting dreams,
And find unreal all it saw before
And real all that seems.
My soul shall rise to everlasting dreams,
And find unreal all it saw before
And real all that seems.
| The complete poetical writings of J. G. Holland | |