Classic Poem

Slowly my thoughts lost hold on consciousness
Like waves that urge but cannot reach the shore:
Once and again I wakened and once more
The wind sighed in, and with a lingering stress
Brushed the loose blinds. Out of some far recess
There came the stealthy creaking of a door
The mice ran scuffling underneath the floor;
And then when all the house stood motionless,
Something dropped sharply overhead; a deep
Dead silence followed; only half aware,
I groped and strove to waken and fell flat;
A moment after, step by step, a cat
Came plumping softly down the attic stair;
And then I turned and then I fell asleep.