Classic Poem

TO SLEEP .

Hail, universal friend! whose gentle hand
Showers o'er our heavy eyes thy cooling dew,
And closes for a time the anxious view
Of past existence. Thou, with mighty wand,
Above the tortured couch art seen to stand,
And lay the brain's delirious rage at rest,
And ease the heart by sorrow's weight opprest.
All-conquering power! to whose supreme command
All living nature bows, — whose deep control
O'ermasters mightiest monarchs, — calm and still
Thou stealest on the sage's unfleshed soul,
And bendest pride and glory to thy will:
Thy whispered voices harmonize the whole,
And all beneath thy sway in peaceful current roll.