Here's what I need most in my life these days ...
To Sleep
by John Keats
O soft embalmer of the still midnight!
Shutting with careful fingers and benign
Our gloom-pleased eyes, embower'd from the light,
Enshaded in forgetfulness divine;
O soothest Sleep! if so it please thee, close,
In midst of this thine hymn, my willing eyes,
Or wait the amen, ere thy poppy throws
Around my bed its lulling charities;
Then save me, or the passed day will shine
Upon my pillow, breeding many woes;
Save me from curious conscience, that still lords
Its strength for darkness, burrowing like a mole;
Turn the key deftly in the oiled wards,
And seal the hushed casket of my soul.
Check out other poetic things being shared and collected today by Jama at Jama's Alphabet Soup. Happy Poetry Friday all!
Me too! I'm not nearly as eloquent as Keats is with my entreaties, though. :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I 'tuck in', it is the loveliest feeling, but I'm not sure I've ever thought to write about it-perhaps I will! This is wonderful, "Enshaded in forgetfulness divine".
ReplyDeleteWhat a fine poem! I had the urge to hear it, so I checked YouTube and there are not only a number of versions of it, but also a musical setting of it for piano and soprano. Thanks for sharing this, Tricia.
ReplyDeleteHello there Tricia, I found the poem quite sad really, especially with these lines:
ReplyDelete"Turn the key deftly in the oiled wards,
And seal the hushed casket of my soul."
Thank you for sharing Keats this week. :)
I read the biography "Posthumous Keats" a few months ago. Those last lines are haunting -- so prophetic.
ReplyDelete