Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE SLEEPERS, by FRANK WILMOT


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE SLEEPERS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Having slept so long, men do not wish to wake
Last Line: And falls asleep again!
Alternate Author Name(s): Maurice, Furnley
Subject(s): Sleep


HAVING slept so long, men do not wish to wake,
Nor stir, nor understand,
Nor brush the darkness from their brows and take
The grandeur close at hand.

Are songs and cries of weariness that mark
Labour and revelry
But lonely waters, crying in the dark,
That flow down to the sea?

Courageous ires, the fruits of ireful claims,
Are folded in a keep
Of dreams and smoke that once were acts and flames --
For men, poisoned with words and bitter names,
Have cried themselves to sleep.

And in that sleep are dreams of frightful hue;
Drag slow across the brain
Marauding talons of the Golden Few,
The coroneted pirates saunter through;
The load of dreaming breaks the heart in twain,
The sleeper wakes -- to find those dreams are true --
And falls asleep again!





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net