Read "Asleep" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
"Come closer," she said, "my sister, / For I can not see your face. / The day grows dim, and the shadows grim, / Are gathering on apace. / I am glad that the night is coming: / I am weary, and want to rest. / What! do you weep, that I fall asleep / Leaning upon your breast?
"Oh, Sister, I am _so_ tired: / How tired you can not know. / And a jarring pain, in my weary brain, / Beats like a cruel blow. / I think it will all have vanished, / After I sleep awhile. / How sweetly I rest, lying here on your breast. / In the warmth of your loving smile.
"Such a beautiful dream, my sister, / I dreamed while I slept last night. / I thought he was true: and he came with you, / And kissed me in love's delight. / And he said. But I am so weary, / I will sleep ere I tell the rest. " / But the sister wept, for the maiden slept / In the sleep of death, on her breast.