Poems (Lowell, 1844, English edition)/Forgetfulness

FORGETFULNESS.


There is a haven of sure rest
From the loud world’s bewildering stress:
As a bird dreaming on her nest,
As dew hid in a rose’s breast,
As Hesper in the glowing West;
  So the heart sleeps
  In thy calm deeps,
Serene Forgetfulness!

No sorrow in that place may be,
The noise of life grows less and less:
As moss far down within the sea,
As, in white lily caves, a bee,
As life in a hazy reverie;
  So the heart’s wave
  In thy dim cave,
Hushes, Forgetfulness!

Duty and care fade far away,
What toil may be we cannot guess:
As a ship anchored in a bay,
As a cloud at summer-noon astray,
As water-blooms in a breezeless day;
  So, ‘neath thine eyes,
  The full heart lies,
And dreams, Forgetfulness!