How many times have I lain down at night, And longed to fall into that gulf of sleep Whose dreamless deep Is haunted by no memory of The weary world above; And thought myself most miserable that I Must impotently lie So long upon the brink Without the power to sink Into that nothingness, and neither feel nor think! How many times, when day brought back the light After the merciful oblivion Of such unbroken slumber, And once again began to cumber My soul with her forgotten cares and sorrows, And show in long perspective the gray morrows, Stretching monotonously on, Forever narrowing but never done, Have I not loathed to live again and said, It would have been far better to be dead, And yet somehow, I know not why, Remained afraid to die! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW; IN MEMORIAM by HENRY AUSTIN DOBSON IN AFTER DAYS; RONDEAU by HENRY AUSTIN DOBSON THE BALLAD OF PROSE AND RHYME by HENRY AUSTIN DOBSON WHEN THERE IS PEACE by HENRY AUSTIN DOBSON AN APPEAL TO MY COUNTRYWOMEN by FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER RETURN OF SPRING by PIERRE DE RONSARD THE SHEPHERD-BOY AND THE WOLF by AESOP A LULLABY by LAWRENCE ALMA-TADEMA JERUSALEM; THE EMANATION OF THE GIANT ALBION: CHAPTER 2 by WILLIAM BLAKE |