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Home  »  The Book of Georgian Verse  »  Samuel Rogers (1763–1855)

William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Georgian Verse. 1909.

The Sleeping Beauty

Samuel Rogers (1763–1855)

SLEEP on, and dream of Heaven awhile—

Tho’ shut so close thy laughing eyes.

Thy rosy lips still wear a smile

And more, and breathe delicious sighs!

Ah, now soft blushes tinge her cheeks

And mantle o’er her neck of snow:

Ah, now she murmurs, now she speaks

What most I wish—and fear to know!

She starts, she trembles, and she weeps!

Her fair hands folded on her breast:

—And now, how like a saint she sleeps!

A seraph in the realms of rest!

Sleep on secure! Above controul

Thy thoughts belong to Heaven and thee:

And may the secret of thy soul

Remain within its sanctuary!