The Sleep by Marie Van Vorst (1912)
Marie Van Vorst’s poem contrasts the desire for love in life with the mysterious “Sleep,” suggesting death or an afterlife. The speaker describes lovers clinging to words, looks, touch, kisses, and embrace, keeping love’s spark alive while refusing to dwell on what comes after. Human beings devote their days and nights to the intense, “delectable” experience of love, raising their hands for beloved palms and physical closeness. Yet while love’s lights eclipse all else, they forget “The Sleep,” the unknown state beyond life.
By Marie Van Vorst · First published 1912 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Love Poetry, Romantic Poetry · 146 words
First lines
Love in a life and after life -- _the Sleep_! / And we hang on a word, a look, and keep / The pulses throbbing, -- make the Spark burn low, -- / And close the Book, to laugh perhaps, to weep / Most surely! if, oh gods! we may but know / Love in life!
Our burning hands we raise / For dear palms' clasp, and kisses on the lips, / And close embrace. / We give our nights and days, / In the one draught delectable our spirits steep, / Forgetting -- (whilst the lights of Love eclipse -- ) / _The Sleep_.
What this Textopian page supports
The Sleep is listed on Textopian as a poem by Marie Van Vorst, dated 1912 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Marie Van Vorst
- Date: 1912 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Love Poetry, Romantic Poetry, Contemplative Poetry, Philosophical Poetry
- Length: 146 words
- Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
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- Work identity for The Sleep by Marie Van Vorst
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
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Genres
- Lyric Poetry — The work is a brief, intensely emotional poem centered on personal feeling, musical phrasing, and concentrated imagery rather than narrative development.
- Love Poetry — Its dominant subject is the desire for romantic love, physical intimacy, kisses, clasped hands, and the spiritual absorption of lovers.
- Romantic Poetry — The poem idealizes passionate love as an overwhelming, transcendent force and employs elevated diction, exclamation, and sensuous imagery.
- Contemplative Poetry — It meditates on the relation between love, mortality, uncertainty, and the condition metaphorically called 'the Sleep.'
Tags
fiction · novel · literary fiction · early twentieth century · American literature · English-language literature · romance · psychological drama · social realism · domestic life · relationships · love