"O Songs!" I said: "Stop sounding in my soul Just for a little while and let me sleep, Resting my head on the breast Of Silence;" but the rhythmic roll Of a thousand songs swept on and on, And a far Voice said: "When thou art dead Thy restless heart shall rest." And the songs will never let me sleep. I plead with them; but o'er the deep They still will roll On, and on, and on, Their music never gone. Ah! world-tired soul! Just for a little while, Just like a poor, tired child Beneath its Mother's smile -- Only to fall asleep! Silence! be mother to me! But -- No! No! No! The waves will ebb and flow. I wonder is it best To never, never rest Down on the shores of this strange Below? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE FLESH AND THE SPIRIT by ANNE BRADSTREET A PASSER-BY by ROBERT SEYMOUR BRIDGES GERONTION by THOMAS STEARNS ELIOT FREEDOM by RALPH WALDO EMERSON THE ROAD NOT TAKEN by ROBERT FROST SWITZERLAND AND ITALY by RICHARD MONCKTON MILNES ASTROPHEL AND STELLA: 1 by PHILIP SIDNEY MOST ANY BIT OF LANDSCAPE by JEAN CAMERON AGNEW INSCRIPTIONS: 2. FOR A STATUE OF CHAUCER AT WOODSTOCK by MARK AKENSIDE |