Occasional verse, moral and sacred Published for the instruction and amusement of the Candidly Serious and Religious [by Edward Perronet] |
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ON SLEEP. |
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 | Occasional verse, moral and sacred |  |
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ON SLEEP.
Emblem of death! as is its couch the Grave,Doom'd to contain the Coward and the Brave;
Where sleep reclin'd, the guilty and the pure,
Alike intomb'd—sequester'd and secure;
Reserv'd alike in that dread hour to wake,
Destin'd to stand—and each their destine take.
Peace to the last—while judgment marks the first,
Ere yet arraign'd—accursing, and accurst.
Rais'd from their bed, to wrap in sleep no more,
Reviv'd they gaze, and horribly adore.
Oh, fatal sleep! that thus awak'd to woe,
No longer ease—no longer rest shall know!
E'en here a foretaste of that keener steel,
That fools have mock'd—and dying fools must feel.
| Occasional verse, moral and sacred | |