TO SLEEP BY JOHN KEATS O soft embalmer of the still midnight! O soothest Sleep! if so it please thee, close, In midst of this thine hymn, my willing eyes, Or wait the amen, ere thy poppy throws Around my bed its lulling charities; Then save me, or the passèd day will shine Upon my pillow, breeding many woes; Save me from curious conscience, that still lords Its strength for darkness, burrowing like a mole; Turn the key deftly in the oilèd wards, KIND SLEEP BY ISABEL FISKE CONANT Slip into sleep as easy as a gown Then wake as gradually as lilies rise Spreading wet, yielding petals, new to suns, To waterless, light element of skies, Slip into death as birds drop down the side FOR SLEEP WHEN OVERTIRED OR WORRIED BY SARAH N. CLEGHORN Cares and anxieties, I roll you all up in a bundle together; I carry you across the meadow to the river. River, I am throwing in a bundle of cares and anxieties. Float it away to the sea! Now I come slowly back across the meadow, Slowly into the house, Slowly up to my room. The night is quiet and cool; The lights are few and dim; The sounds are drowsy and far away and melting into each other; Melting into the night. Sleep comes creeping nearer, creeping nearer; It goes over my head like a wave. I sleep... I rest. . . I sleep. |