To sleep I give myself away,
Unclasp the fetters of the mind,
Forget the sorrows of the day,
The burdens of the heart unbind.
With empty sail this tired bark
Drifts out upon the sea of rest,
While all the shore behind grows dark
And...
Proud, languid lily of the sacred Nile,
’T is strange to see thee on our Western wave,
Far from those sandy shores, that mile on mile,
Papyrus-plumed, stretch silent as the grave.
O’er dark, mysterious pool and sheltered bay,
And round deep dreaming...
Pray for the dead—who bids thee not?
Do all our human loves grow pale,
Or are the old needs all forgot
When men have passed within the veil?
Shall prayer’s strong pleadings pierce the skies
For those we still keep with us here,
And not a single...
