The Sleeper
Walter de la Mare 1873 (Charlton, London) – 1956 (Twickenham)
As Ann came in one summer's day,
She felt that she must creep,
So silent was the clear cool house,
It seemed a house of sleep.
And sure, when she pushed open the door,
Rapt in the stillness there,
Her mother sat, with stooping head,
Asleep upon a chair;
Fast -- fast asleep; her two hands laid
Loose-folded on her knee,
So that her small unconscious face
Looked half unreal to be:
So calmly lit with sleep's pale light
Each feature was; so fair
Her forehead -- every trouble was
Smooth'd out beneath her hair.
But though her mind in dream now moved,
Still seemed her gaze to rest
From out beneath her fast-sealed lids,
Above her moving breast,
On Ann, as quite, quite still she stood;
Yet slumber lay so deep
Even her hands upon her lap
Seemed saturate with sleep.
And as Ann peeped, a cloudlike dread
Stole over her, and then,
On stealthy, mouselike feet she trod,
And tiptoed out again.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 17, 2023
- 50 sec read
- 58 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XAXAXBCBXDXDXBXB XEXEXAXACFXF |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 896 |
Words | 166 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 16, 12 |
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"The Sleeper" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/38329/the-sleeper>.
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