NOW industry is ended; now, kind sleep, Only be pleased to be not overswift, But let our loosed and drowsy bodies keep A little taste of exile; slowly sift Night's heavier from the airy thoughts of day, And at the point of our surrender make Some new, delicious, ever-shorter stay; Slowly to sleep is good, swiftly to wake. Ah! coveted Joy, too absolute in content To be exchanged for immortality, How dost thou lure us from our late consent And our night prayers to light and ecstasy, Tempting us now, with our last waking breath, To ask no more, but only this, of death. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RELIGION AND DOCTRINE by JOHN MILTON HAY TO JANE: THE INVITATION by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY SILEX SCINTIALLANS: THEY ARE ALL GONE by HENRY VAUGHAN POMEGRANATES by RUTH FOSS BREWER SPEAK OF THE NORTH by CHARLOTTE BRONTE THE EXILE'S RETURN by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING THE WEAKEST THING by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING LURIA; A TRAGEDY by ROBERT BROWNING AMBITION AND GLORY by EDWARD GEORGE EARLE LYTTON BULWER-LYTTON |