Sleep, and forget, forget the aching toil,
The disappointments, and the long delays,
The watches of the night-time and the morn,
The lonely hours, unrewarded days;
Sleep, and forget.
In death we all are equal, great and small
Brought to the common level of the dust;
There is no glory that survives the years,
Nay, nay, alike we shall be as we must;
Sleep and forget.
In sleep we are omnipotent as gods,
Beyond our furthest wish we can attain,
Unfettered by the chain of circumstance;
Sleep then; or waking, turn and pray again
A little more to sleep and to forget.
SCENE III
Enter the MOTHER to the WIFE
THE MOTHER
Ah me, your fears have settled on my heart;
I fear the very day, there is a strange
Portentous look o'er all the earth, my hand
Stretched in the sunlight seems to throw no shade
As if the natural laws had all stood still—
I breathe as in a nightmare, breath oppressed;
I start at every sound, but fear no sound
So much as stillness, which descends on us
Like a great mantle choking out our hearts.
THE WIFE
Give me your hand, what is it makes you fear
And shiver like plane trees before the rain?
THE MOTHER