| Andrew Macphail, comp. The Book of Sorrow. 1916. | | | II. Rest
‘As thus Oppressed’ | | By Henry Kirke White (1785–1806) |
| | | AS thus oppressed with many a heavy care, | |
| (Though young yet sorrowful) I turn my feet | |
| To the dark woodland, longing much to greet | |
| The form of Peace, if chance she sojourn there; | |
| Deep thought and dismal, verging to despair, | 5 |
| Fills my sad breast, and tired with this vain coil, | |
| I shrink dismayed before life’s upland toil. | |
| And as amid the leaves the evening air | |
| Whispers still melody, I think ere long, | |
| When I no more can hear, these woods will speak; | 10 |
| And then a sad smile plays upon my cheek, | |
| And mournful phantasies upon me throng, | |
| And I do ponder with most strange delight | |
| On the calm slumbers of the dead man’s night. | | | | |
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