A heritage for ever. Such a sleep Came upon Adrian and such a dream, As in the shade he lay a weary heap. For, while he rested, still it seemed to him He rode towards the city of his love, Only in mirth not sadness. And, behold, In his soothed bosom Hope, a brooding dove, Had made again her nest, and manifold Fair pleasures round him seemed to perch and sing Like wild birds in the branches overhead, And his heart leaped in joy with everything, As in the days ere yet his joys were dead, Until he found himself, it seemed, in Rome And knocking at the doors of his own home. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BALLADE OF EGREGIOUSNESS by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS TO HAFIZ by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH FOR THE QUEEN MOTHER by JOHN BETJEMAN PARAPHRASE; FAILURE AND SUCCESS by LEVI BISHOP EPIGRAM by WILLIAM BROWNE (1591-1643) IN SLEEP by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON |