SLEEP.
FROM THE ITALIAN.
O sleep! O missing first-born of the night!
Child of the silent-footed shadow, thou
Who comfortest the sick, and makest light
Of ills, bringing forgetfulness of woe;
Succor the broken spirit that faints for sight
Of thee; these limbs, that travail hath brought low,
Refresh. Come, sleep, and on my temples light,
And make thy dark wings meet above my brow.
Where is sweet silence which the day forsakes?
And the shy dreams that follow in thy train,
The silly flock that scatters at a touch?
Alas! in vain I summon thee: in vain
Flatter the chilly dark. O thorny couch!
O heavy watches till the slow dawn breaks!