Siegfried Sassoon (1886–1967). Picture-Show. 1920.

26. Slumber-Song

SLEEP; and my song shall build about your bed

A paradise of dimness. You shall feel

The folding of tired wings; and peace will dwell

Throned in your silence: and one hour shall hold

Summer, and midnight, and immensity

Lulled to forgetfulness. For, where you dream,

The stately gloom of foliage shall embower

Your slumbering thought with tapestries of blue.

And there shall be no memory of the sky,

Nor sunlight with its cruelty of swords.

But, to your soul that sinks from deep to deep

Through drowned and glimmering colour, Time shall be

Only slow rhythmic swaying; and your breath;

And roses in the darkness; and my love.