Edith Matilda Thomas (Эдит Матильда Томас)

Winter Sleep

I KNOW it must be winter (though I sleep)--
  I know it must be winter, for I dream
  I dip my bare feet in the running stream,
And flowers are many, and the grass grows deep.

I know I must be old (how age deceives!)--
  I know I must be old, for, all unseen,
  My heart grows young, as autumn fields grow green,
When late rains patter on the falling sheaves.

I know I must be tired (and tired souls err)--
  I know I must be tired, for all my soul
  To deeds of daring beats a glad, faint roll,
As storms the riven pine to music stir.

I know I must be dying (Death draws near)--
  I know I must be dying, for I crave
  Life--life, strong life, and think not of the grave,
And turf-bound silence, in the frosty year.

Edith Matilda Thomas’s other poems:

  1. How the Christmas Tree Was Brought to Nome
  2. Her Christmas Present
  3. The Procession of the Kings
  4. The Witch’s Child
  5. The Christmas Sheaf

Poems of other poets with the same name (Стихотворения других поэтов с таким же названием):

  • Elinor Wylie (Элинор Уайли) Winter Sleep (“When against earth a wooden heel”)

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