Elegiac Sonnets and Other Poems Volume I/To Sleep

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Elegiac Sonnets and Other Essays (1784)
by Charlotte Smith
To Sleep
9246Elegiac Sonnets and Other Essays — To Sleep1784Charlotte Smith

Come balmy Sleep! tired Nature's soft resort!
On these sad temples all thy poppies shed;
And bid gay dreams from Morpheus' airy court,
Float in light vision round my aching head!
Secure of all thy blessings, partial Power!
On his hard bed the peasant throws him down;
And the poor sea boy, in the rudest hour,
Enjoys thee more than he who wears a crown.
Clasped in her faithful shepherd's guardian arms,
Well may the village girl sweet slumbers prove,
And they, O gentle Sleep! still taste thy charms,
Who wake to labor, liberty and love.
But still thy opiate aid dost thou deny
To calm the anxious breast; to close the streaming eye.

This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.

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