Sleep, ah! sleep in the light of the moon, Sleep, ah! sleep in the shadow of night, For the hour of waking is soon, how soon! And swift are the feet of light! Sleep, ah! sleep in the light of the stars, Sleep in the lull of the viewless airs, For you wake to the world and its pitiful wars, The flesh and its sordid cares. Sleep, ah! sleep in the hush of the heart, Dreamless, forget the return of strife, When the curtains of shadow are stricken apart On the pitiless drama of life. Sleep, ah! sleep in the light of the soul, In the measureless strength and the timeless peace; Sleep! and be free of the mind's control In the prison of time and space. Sleep, ah! sleep in the endless ways Of the shadow of Death, in the cool, kind earth, Till the dark is dissolved in the golden haze Of the Dawn of a greater birth. Sleep! for haply a night will come Where laughter is silent and none shall weep, Where the Soul after infinite travel goes home At last to an endless sleep. |