401. To Sleep by John Keats
J Keats read by Classic Poetry Aloud: Giving voice to the poetry of the past.\nwww.classicpoetryaloud.com\n\n--------------------------------------------\n\nTo Sleep\nby John Keats (1795 \u2013 1821)\n\nO soft embalmer of the still midnight!\n Shutting with careful fingers and benign\nOur gloom-pleased eyes, embower'd from the light,\n Enshaded in forgetfulness divine;\nO soothest Sleep! if so it please thee, close,\n In midst of this thine hymn, my willing eyes,\nOr wait the amen, ere thy poppy throws\n Around my bed its lulling charities;\n Then save me, or the pass\xe8d day will shine\nUpon my pillow, breeding many woes;\nSave me from curious conscience, that still lords\n Its strength for darkness, burrowing like a mole;\nTurn the key deftly in the oil\xe8d wards, \n And seal the hush\xe8d casket of my soul.\n\nFirst aired: 25 October 2007\n\nFor hundreds more poetry readings, visit the Classic Poetry Aloud index.\n\nReading \xa9 Classic Poetry Aloud 2009