Page:Elegiac Sonnets and Other Essays The Second Edition.pdf/25

[  11    ] SONNET X TO SLEEP. OME balmy Sleep, tir'd 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.

Clasp'd in her faithful shepherd's guardian arms,
 * Well may the village girl sweet slumbers prove;

And they, oh gentle Sleep I still taste thy charms,
 * Who wake to labour, liberty, and love.

But still thy opiate aid dost thou deny, To calm the anxious breast, to close the streaming eye.
 * Shakespeare's Henry IV. CHANSON