NOW industry is ended; now, kind sleep, Only be pleased to be not overswift, But let our loosed and drowsy bodies keep A little taste of exile; slowly sift Night's heavier from the airy thoughts of day, And at the point of our surrender make Some new, delicious, ever-shorter stay; Slowly to sleep is good, swiftly to wake. Ah! coveted Joy, too absolute in content To be exchanged for immortality, How dost thou lure us from our late consent And our night prayers to light and ecstasy, Tempting us now, with our last waking breath, To ask no more, but only this, of death. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL by KATHARINE LEE BATES AFFINITES: 2 by MATHILDE BLIND WOULD YOU RETURN? by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN SONG, FR. A VISION OF GIORGIONE: GEMMA'S SPRING SONG by GORDON BOTTOMLEY A LEAVE-TAKING: 2 by WILLIAM STANLEY BRAITHWAITE THE RING AND THE BOOK: BOOK 4. TERTIUM QUID by ROBERT BROWNING |