PHANTOMS come and crowd me thick, And my heart is sick, so sick; Kindness no more refresh Brain nor body, mind nor flesh. Good Muse, sweet Muse, comfort me With thy heavenly company. Thieves beset me on my way, Day and night and night and day, Stealing all the lovely light That did make my dreams so bright. Good Muse, sweet Muse, hide my treasures High among immortal pleasures. Friendship's watch is weary grown, And I lie alone, alone; Love against me flower-like closes, Blushing, opening toward the roses. Good Muse, sweet Muse, keep my friend To the sad and sunless end. Oh, the darkness of the estate Where I, stript and bleeding, wait, Torn with thorns and with wild woe, In my house of dust so low! Good Muse, sweet Muse, make my faith Strong to triumph over death. Rock me both at morns and eves In a cradle lined with leaves -- Light as winds that stir the willows Stir my hard and heavy pillows. Good Muse, sweet Muse, rock me soft, Till my thoughts soar all aloft. Seal my eyes from earthly things With the shadow of thy wings, Fill with songs the wildering spaces, Till I see the old, old faces, Rise forever, on forever -- Good Muse, sweet Muse, leave me never. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MY FAMILIAR DREAM by PAUL VERLAINE THE FORSAKEN MERMAN by MATTHEW ARNOLD THE BIVOUAC OF THE DEAD by THEODORE O'HARA TO A FRIEND WHOSE WORK HAS COME TO NOTHING by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS VERSES FOR A GUEST ROOM by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS THE BABY-HOUSE by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD |