SING soft, ye pretty birds, while Cælia sleeps, And gentle gales play gently with the leaves; Learn of the neighbour brooks, whose silent deeps Would teach him fear, that her soft sleep bereaves. Mine oaten reed, devoted to her praise, (A theme that would befit the Delphian lyre) Give way, that I in silence may admire. Is not her sleep like that of innocents, Sweet as herself; and is she not more fair, Almost in death, than are the ornaments Of fruitful trees, which newly budding are? She is, and tell it, Truth, when she shall lie And sleep for ever, for she cannot die. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO AN UNBORN PAUPER CHILD by THOMAS HARDY BUCOLIC COMEDY: AUBADE by EDITH SITWELL ANTIQUE JEWELER by FREDERICK HENRY HERBERT ADLER ACROSS THE STREET by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH IN THE STILLNESS O' THE NIGHT by WILLIAM BARNES TO JOANNA, ON SENDING ME THE LEAF OF A FLOWER ... WORDSWORTH'S GARDEN by BERNARD BARTON |