In vain I court till dawning light, <br />The coy divinity of night; <br />Restless, from side to side I turn, <br />Arise, ye musings of the morn! <br /> <br />Oh, sleep! though banish'd from those eyes <br />In vision's fair to Delia rise; <br />And o'er a dearer form diffuse <br />Thy healing balm, thy lenient dews. <br /> <br />Bless'd be her night as infant's rest, <br />Lull'd on the fond maternal breast, <br />Who, sweetly-playful smiles in sleep, <br />Nor knows that he is born to weep. <br /> <br />Remove the terrors of the night, <br />The phantom forms of wild affright, <br />The shrieks from precipice or flood, <br />And starting scene that swims with blood. <br /> <br />Lead her aloft to blooming bowers, <br />And beds of amaranthine flowers, <br />And golden skies, and glittering streams, <br />That paint the paradise of dreams. <br /> <br />Venus! present a lover near, <br />And gently whisper in her ear <br />His woes, who, lonely and forlorn, <br />Counts the slow clock from night till morn. <br /> <br />Ah! let no portion of my pain, <br />Save just a tender trace, remain; <br />Asleep consenting to be kind, <br />And wake with Daphnis in her mind.<br /><br />John Logan<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ode-to-sleep-6/
