Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry.
Volume VI. Fancy. 1904. | | | | Poems of Sentiment: VI. Labor and Rest | | Sleeplessness | | William Wordsworth (1770–1850) |
| | | A FLOCK of sheep that leisurely pass by | |
| One after one; the sound of rain, and bees | |
| Murmuring; the fall of rivers, winds and seas, | |
| Smooth fields, white sheets of water, and pure sky;— | |
| I ’ve thought of all by turns, and still I lie | 5 |
| Sleepless; and soon the small birds’ melodies | |
| Must hear, first uttered from my orchard trees, | |
| And the first cuckoo’s melancholy cry. | |
| Even thus last night, and two nights more, I lay, | |
| And could not win thee, Sleep, by any stealth: | 10 |
| So do not let me wear to-night away; | |
| Without thee what is all the morning’s wealth? | |
| Come, blessèd barrier between day and day, | |
| Dear mother of fresh thoughts and joyous health! | | | | |
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