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Home  »  An American Anthology, 1787–1900  »  1153 To Sleep

Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By MayburyFleming

1153 To Sleep

SWEET wooded way in life, forgetful Sleep!

Dim, drowsy realm where restful shadows fall,

And where the world’s glare enters not at all,

Or in soft glimmer making rest more deep;

Where sound comes not, or else like brooks that keep

The world’s noise out, as by a slumberous wall

Of gentlest murmur; where still whispers call

To smileless gladness those that waking weep;

Beneath the dense veil of thy stirless leaves,

Where no air is except the calm of space,

Vexed souls of men have grateful widow-hood

Of tedious sense; there thoughts are bound in sheaves

By viewless hands as silent as the place;

And man, unsinning, finds all nature good.