UNREST.
Rest for awhile! I'm tempest-tost to-day.
Bar out the sunshine. Let importunate life
Beating for ever with impatient hand
My soul's closed portals, only rouse within
Dull, dreamy echoes! In a forest calm
Builds sleep, the white dove. As a bird she rides
The lulled waves of the soul. To-day, my thoughts
Hunt me like hounds; the very prayer for peace
Scares peace away; my senses, wide awake,
Watch for the touch that thrills them: every sound
Falls through the listening air unscabbarded;
And if sleep comes, 'tis but a transient dream
Bar out the sunshine. Let importunate life
Beating for ever with impatient hand
My soul's closed portals, only rouse within
Dull, dreamy echoes! In a forest calm
Builds sleep, the white dove. As a bird she rides
The lulled waves of the soul. To-day, my thoughts
Hunt me like hounds; the very prayer for peace
Scares peace away; my senses, wide awake,
Watch for the touch that thrills them: every sound
Falls through the listening air unscabbarded;
And if sleep comes, 'tis but a transient dream
