Before Sleep Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABABCC DEDECC FGFGDH IHIHJJ KCKCFF LMLMAA NCNCFF HFHFHH DJDJOO FPFQJJ ARARCC| Now the creeping nets of sleep | A |
| Stretch about and gather nigh | B |
| And the midnight dim and deep | A |
| Like a spirit passes by | B |
| Trailing from her crystal dress | C |
| Dreams and silent frostiness | C |
| - | |
| Yet a moment ere I be | D |
| Tangled in the snares of night | E |
| All the dreamy heart of me | D |
| To my Lady takes its flight | E |
| To her chamber where she lies | C |
| Wrapt in midnight phantasies | C |
| - | |
| Over many a glinting street | F |
| And the snow capped roofs of men | G |
| Towers that tremble with the beat | F |
| Of the midnight bells and then | G |
| Where my body may not be | D |
| Stands my spirit holily | H |
| - | |
| Wake not Lady wake not soon | I |
| Through the frosty windows fall | H |
| Broken glimmers of the moon | I |
| Dimly on the floor and wall | H |
| Wake not Lady never care | J |
| 'Tis my spirit kneeling there | J |
| - | |
| Let him kneel a moment now | K |
| For the minutes fly apace | C |
| Let him see the sleeping brow | K |
| And the sweetly rounded face | C |
| He shall tell me soon aright | F |
| How my lady looks to night | F |
| - | |
| How her tresses out and in | L |
| Fold in many a curly freak | M |
| Round about the snowy chin | L |
| And the softly tinted cheek | M |
| Where no sorrows now can weep | A |
| And the dimples lie asleep | A |
| - | |
| How her eyelids meet and match | N |
| Gathered in two dusky seams | C |
| Each the little creamy thatch | N |
| Of an azure house of dreams | C |
| Or two flowers that love the light | F |
| Folded softly up at night | F |
| - | |
| How her bosom breathing low | H |
| Stirs the wavy coverlet | F |
| With a motion soft and slow | H |
| Oh my Lady wake not yet | F |
| There without a thought of guile | H |
| Let my spirit dream a while | H |
| - | |
| Yet my spirit back to me | D |
| Hurry soon and have a care | J |
| Love will turn to agony | D |
| If you rashly linger there | J |
| Bending low as spirits may | O |
| Touch her lips and come away | O |
| - | |
| So fond spirit beauty fed | F |
| Turning when your wave is o'er | P |
| Weave a cross above the bed | F |
| And a sleep rune on the floor | Q |
| That no evil enter there | J |
| Ugly shapes and dreams beware | J |
| - | |
| Then ye looming nets of sleep | A |
| Ye may have me all your own | R |
| For the night is wearing deep | A |
| And the ice winds whisk and moan | R |
| Come with all your drowsy stress | C |
| Dreams and silent frostiness | C |
Archibald Lampman
(1)
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About Before Sleep
Before Sleep is a poem by Archibald Lampman. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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