592. On Waking from a Dreamless Sleep by Annie Fields. Stedman, Edmund Clarence, ed. 1900. An American Anthology, 1787-1900

Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

592. On Waking from a Dreamless Sleep

By Annie Fields


I WAKED; the sun was in the sky,
The face of heaven was fair;
The silence all about me lay,
Of morning in the air.

I said, Where hast thou been, my soul,	5
Since the moon set in the west?
I know not where thy feet have trod,
Nor what has been thy quest.

Where wast thou when Orion past
Below the dark-blue sea?	10
His glittering, silent stars are gone,—
Didst follow them for me?

Where wast thou in that awful hour
When first the night-wind heard
The faint breath of the coming dawn,	15
And fled before the word?

Where hast thou been, my spirit,
Since the long wave on the shore
Tenderly rocked my sense asleep,
And I heard thee no more?	20

My limbs like breathing marble
Have lain in the warm down;
No heavenly chant, no earthly care,
Have stirred a smile or frown.

I wake; thy kiss is on my lips;	25
Thou art my day, my sun!
But where, O spirit, where wast thou
While the sands of night have run?