John Keats. 1795-1821
636. To Sleep
1 min to read
103 words

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.

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John Keats. 1795-1821
637. Last Sonnet
1 min to read
100 words
Return to The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250–1900






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