French Leave
No servile little fear shall daunt my will
This morning. I have courage steeled to say
I will be lazy, conqueringly still,
I will not lose the hours in toil this day.
The roaring world without, careless of souls,
Shall leave me to my placid dream of rest,
My four walls shield me from its shouting ghouls,
And all its hates have fled my quiet breast.
And I will loll here resting, wide awake,
Dead to the world of work, the world of love,
I laze contented just for dreaming's sake
With not the slightest urge to think or move.
How tired unto death, how tired I was!
Now for a day I put my burdens by,
And like a child amidst the meadow grass
Under the southern sun, I languid lie
And feel the bed about me kindly deep,
My strength ooze gently from my hollow bones,
My worried brain drift aimlessly to sleep,
Like softening to a song of tuneful tones.
poem by Claude McKay
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Autopilot
I can sleep, but I won't rest
I'll try to rest, but I'll only sleep
My dreams were once my escape
My nights held my happy days
Awake, I was depresed
Alseep, I had energy
I'd cry myself to sleep
Then I'd cry no more
Spreading my wings
I'd laugh under night's sun
Flying around the world
I'd make a hundred friends
Throwing fire and ice
I'd defeat all my enemies
Then I would wake up
And happiness fled
Walking through autopilot
In a world that wasn't real
Looking but never seeing
I'd cry under day's moon
Existing but never living
I'd avoid everyone
Closing my eyes
I'd hide from any enemies
I once rested
In the chaos of my dreams
The loud sleeping happiness
Was better than the quiet waking sadness
But things have changed
In a moment, a lifetime
Awake, I am content
Asleep, I am upset
If I sleep, I dream
When I dream, I fear
Running in terror
Crying in death
I see faces unkown
And know pain unfelt
I once looked for sleep to find rest
Now I avoid sleep so not to lose rest
My heaven became my hell
My hallucination became my shelter
I do not sleep, I do not rest
Tired, but I am happy
A new kind of autopilot
Which existance is worse?
Awake, I fear sleep coming
Asleep, I cannot wake
Never resting, only existing
Life on autopilot
poem by Juvela Obi
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The Dead Child
Sleep on, dear, now
The last sleep and the best,
And on thy brow,
And on thy quiet breast
Violets I throw.
Thy scanty years
Were mine a little while;
Life had no fears
To trouble thy brief smile
With toil or tears.
Lie still, and be
For evermore a child!
Not grudgingly,
Whom life has not defiled,
I render thee.
Slumber so deep,
No man would rashly wake;
I hardly weep,
Fain only, for thy sake.
To share thy sleep.
Yes, to be dead,
Dead, here with thee to-day,--
When all is said
'Twere good by thee to lay
My weary head.
The very best!
Ah, child so tired of play,
I stand confessed:
I want to come thy way,
And share thy rest.
poem by Ernest Christopher Dowson
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Dream On
(being, in love)
Been travelling this road for so long
My eyes are tired but I carry on
The sun lays down its golden threads
I need a place to rest my head
Although I am far from home now
My souls with you
Its hard to be out here on my own
So far away, so far from home
I need to touch and feel your skin
To live this dream in sleep again
Although I am far from home now
My souls with you
So dream on, dream on
Freedom comes with timeless sleep
Dream on, dream on
In the arms of night
Your silent shadow gently speaks
Dream on, dream on
This hotel rooms a lonely place
Its a one night cell I must escape
So I drink away my loneliness
So I can sleep and dream again
Although I am far from home now
My souls with you
And as I fall into
The darkness of the night
You come to rescue me to
Shield me in your light
I feel your touch
The softness of your skin
You hold me close before
The day breaks in
This dreams so true
My heart it beats, it beats
It beats for you, for you
Although I am far from home now
My souls with you
So dream on, dream on
Freedom comes with timeless sleep
Dream on, dream on
In the arms of night
Your silent shadow gently speaks
So dream on, dream on
Dream on, dream on
So dream on, dream on
Dream on
song performed by by Uriah Heep
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I'm Tired Of It All
I am tired of it all
I am tired of today
I am tired of the summer heat-
I am tired of all the years of trying to be something
And still being nothing and no one
I am tired of myself and my ambition
I am tired of reading the great poems of others
I am tired of Poetry
I am tired of being old
I am tired of no longer having the means to help those I care for-
I am tired of having written for so many years
And having so little to show for it-
I am tired of being an old man getting older -
I am tired of being afraid of what is going to happen to me
And those close to me
I am tired of having so many sick friends-
I am tired of having more and more people I have known who are dead
I am tired of a world in which violence and stupidity play such a great part
I am tired of all the problems that should have been solved years ago
And yet persist-
I am tired of cruelty
I am tired of rudeness and petty selfishness
I am tired of seeing the evil get away with it
I am tired truly tired
Tired of being tired also
Tired of myself and my complaints-
And my failure all these years
To make things right-
And yet and yet with all the tiredness
I know there is so much else even in myself-
I still want to live and dream and hope and help those I love
I still want to write still a few lines of poetry
that will be read by others
And help them
Dream to begin again
I still want to give to those I love
The little I still have to give
I still want to live
For life itself is life itself is still good
Despite the tiredness.
poem by Shalom Freedman
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World Wide
World wide
People are waiting for the arrival of spring
World wide people are celebrating Easter
The Easter egg is a sign of fertility
World wide people are waiting for God’s arrival
World wide is in trouble
I hope if anybody can fix it
Will have to be God alone
World wide
You hear about our peace keepers being sent to Afghanistan
World wide
They hear
About the soldiers we lost
When are we going to pull out of Afghanistan?
World wide
Is hunger and poverty
Why don’t they spend the money wisely world wide?
Why don’t they end the war world wide?
They don’t even seem to get tired
I am already tired about listening to it
And to know that it is going on world wide
When are people going to share a moment of silence world wide?
And share the truth with one another world wide
We are loosing this battle world wide
What can we learn from this battle world wide?
poem by Aldo Kraas
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Dreaming From The Waist (live)
Townshend)
I feel like I want to break out of the house
My heart is pumping, I've got sin in my mouth
I feel like I'm heading up to a cardiac arrest
I want to scream in the night, I want a manifest
I've got that wide awake, give-and-take, five o'clock-in-the-morning feeling
I got the hots for the sluts in the well found pages of the magazines
I want to drive, want to fly like I do in the dreams I've never really been in
I want to hump, want to jump, want to heat up, cool down in a dream machine
I'm dreaming ... from the waist on down
I'm dreaming ... but I feel tired and bound
I'm dreaming ... of a day when a cold shower helps my health
I'm dreaming ... dreaming - of the day I can control myself
Day I can control myself
Sound like a priest and then I'm shooting dice
I'm burning tires with some guy whose hair is turning white
I know the girls that I pass, they just ain't impressed
I'm too old to give up, but too young to rest
I've got that numb-to-a-thumb over-dubbed
Feeling social when the world is sleeping
The plot starts to thicken then I sicken and I feel I'm cemented down
I'm so juiced at the bar
And a lady's sad sad story has me quietly weeping
But here comes the morning
Here comes the yawning demented clown
I'm dreaming ... but I know it's all hot air
I'm dreaming ... I'll get back to that rocking chair
I'm dreaming ... of the day I can share the wealth
I'm dreaming ... dreaming - of the day I can control myself
Day I can control myself
Hey, hey!
The day I can control myself
song performed by by Who
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Requiem
Neobule, being tired,
Far too tired to laugh or weep,
From the hours, rosy and gray,
Hid her golden face away.
Neobule, fain of sleep,
Slept at last as she desired!
Neobule! is it well,
That you haunt the hollow lands,
Where the poor, dead people stray,
Ghostly, pitiful and gray,
Plucking, with their spectral hands,
Scentless blooms of asphodel?
Neobule, tired to death
Of the flowers that I threw
On her flower-like, fair feet,
Sighed for blossoms not so sweet,
Lunar roses pale and blue,
Lilies of the world beneath.
Neobule! ah, too tired
Of the dreams and days above!
Where the poor, dead people stray,
Ghostly, pitiful and gray,
Out of life and out of love,
Sleeps the sleep which she desired.
poem by Ernest Christopher Dowson
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Early Morning Daydream
Its six o’clock in the morning
and the rain is tapping on my windowpane.
I’ve got up because I couldn’t sleep
for a little space of my own.
Fed our cats, so I could sit in the quiet
and not be bothered by anything.
Letting my mind slide into a dream.
I feel the pull of another world
and not the one I’m living in,
of relaxing in a far off land
surrounded by old friends.
Somewhere I could sit down
and talk away the hours at a long leisurely pace.
Reminisce of the things we’ve done,
both happy and sad.
Enjoying a rest bite from the world
that in which we have to live
and when my eye lids get heavy
as sleep want to approach
I could bit everyone goodnight
and scuttle of to bed
disappearing from that imaginary world
and awake in reality.
Wondering if when I close my eyes again
will I once again visit them?
17 January 2009
poem by David Harris
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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I am (emotion)
I am tired
tired of the walls closed around me
tired of blindness when I wish to see
I am scared
scared of the love that will never come
scared of where the darkness is from
I am angry
angry at truths that are perceived wrong
angry at the uselessness of a happy song
I am sad
sad for those left behind
sad for the happiness they cannot find
I am confused
confused with the madness of this world
confused with the life into which I'm hurled
I am helpless
helpless to keep my innocence
helpless of it to make any sense
I am dead
dead to the world around me
dead to the people, who refuse see
poem by Glaedr the poet
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Sleep
I close my eyes and I try to sleep
But I cannot, so I begin to weep
As I am so tired and so very weak
Rest and solitude is all that I seek,
I wish to close my eyes and find that peace
That moment of time when worries will cease
But when I close my eyes I am still awake
Sleep for me, it did forsake,
I need so dearly to enter into a dream
But I cannot, so at the walls I do scream
I am so weary and so very tired
My sleep and rest are both desired,
Tossing and turning still upon my bed
As fatigue and worries still enters my head
Upon my bed I wish I was peacefully lying
Instead of tossing and turning and sadly crying,
Again and again I try my best to find that sleep
I take pills and I even try to count sheep
But every time I dose off my quest it fails
Another bit of madness and more pills then entails,
My thoughts now no longer speak to my brain
I have no energy I feel the slow drain
I remember the words that my friends have said
That I will find that sleep, when I am dead.
poem by Randy McClave
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The Dead To The Living
Work while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
IN the childhood of April, while purple woods
With the young year's blood in them smiled,
I passed through the lanes and the wakened fields,
And stood by the grave of the child.
And the pain awoke that is never dead
Though it sometimes sleeps, and again
It set its teeth in this heart of mine,
And fastened its claws in my brain:
For it seemed so hard that the little hands
And the little well-loved head
Should be out of reach of my living lips,
And be side by side with the dead--
Not side by side with us who had loved,
But with these who had never seen
The grace of the smile, the gold of the hair,
And the eyes of my baby-queen.
Yet with trees about where the brown birds build,
And with long green grass above,
She lies in the cold sweet breast of earth
Beyond the reach of our love;
Whatever befalls in the coarse loud world,
We know she will never wake.
When I thought of the sorrow she might have known,
I was almost glad for her sake. . . .
Tears might have tired those kiss-closed eyes,
Grief hardened the mouth I kissed;
I was almost glad that my dear was dead
Because of the pain she had missed.
Oh, if I could but have died a child
With a white child-soul like hers,
As pure as the wind-flowers down in the copse,
Where the soul of the spring's self stirs;
Or if I had only done with it all,
And might lie by her side unmoved!
I envied the very clods of earth
Their place near the child I loved!
And my soul rose up in revolt at life,
As I stood dry-eyed by her grave,
When sudden the grass of the churchyard sod
Rolled back like a green smooth wave;
The brown earth looked like the brown sea rocks,
The tombstones were white like spray,
And white like surf were the curling folds
Of the shrouds where the dead men lay;
For each in his place with his quiet face
I saw the dead lie low,
Who had worked and suffered and found life sad,
So many sad years ago.
Unchanged by time I saw them lie
As when first they were laid to rest,
The tired eyes closed, the sad lips still,
And the work-worn hands on the breast.
There were some who had found the green world so grey,
They had left it before their time,
And some were little ones like my dear,
And some had died in their prime;
And some were old, they had had their fill
Of bitter unfruitful hours,
And knew that none of them, none, had known
A flower of a hope like ours!
Through their shut eyelids the dead looked up,
And without a voice they said:
'We lived without hope, without hope we died,
And hopeless we lie here dead;
And death is better than life that draws
Pain in, as it draws in breath,
If life never dreams of a coming day
When life shall not envy death.
Through the dark of our hours and our times we lived,
Uncheered by a single ray
Of such hope as lightens the lives of you
Who are finding life hard to-day;
With our little lanterns of human love
We lighted our dark warm night--
But you in the chill of the dawn are set
With your face to the eastern light.
Freedom is waiting with hands held out
Till you tear the veil from her face--
And when once men have seen the light of her eyes,
And felt her divine embrace,
The light of the world will be risen indeed,
And will shine in the eyes of men,
And those who come after will find life fair,
And their lives worth living then!
Will you strive to the light in your loud rough world,
That these things may come to pass,
Or lie in the shadow beside the child,
And strive to the sun through the grass?'
'My world while I may,' I cried; 'but you
Whose lives were as dark as your grave?'
'We too are a part of the coming light,'
They called through the smooth green wave.
Their white shrouds gleamed as the flood of green
Rolled over and hid them from me--
Hid all but the little hands and the hair,
And the face that I always see.
poem by Edith Nesbit
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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My Nights
In the middle of my night,
still hours from day
as I toss and turn I'm wide-awake
but still in my bed I lay.
But while my comforter
keeps out the cold,
still in my wakefulness
I fear getting old.
I'm aware that the world
keeps moving along.
The wheels and ships
are humming their song.
And as the hours
bring me to dawn
I stretch, I scratch
and then I yawn.
I must join the world
and hum my song
until another bedtime
comes along.
In the middle of the night,
still hours from day
as I toss and turn I'm wide-awake.
But still in my bed I pray.
poem by Edwina Reizer
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I Cant Sleep
(kathy louvin/mark collie)
I cant sleep
For dreaming about you
When youre gone
Theres nothing I can do
But lie awake alone
And dream the whole night through
I cant sleep
For dreaming about you
I close my weary eyes
And see your face
I hold my pillow tight
And dream of your embrace
I know that I could use the rest
But my lonely heart cries out for your caress
I cant sleep
For dreaming about you
When youre gone
Theres nothing I can do
But lie awake alone
And dream the whole night through
I cant sleep
For dreaming about you
They say that absence makes a love grow stronger
But I dont believe my empty arms can hold out any longer
I cant sleep
For dreaming about you
When youre gone
Theres nothing I can do
But lie awake alone
And dream the whole night through
I cant sleep
For dreaming about you
I cant sleep
For dreaming about you
song performed by by Martina Mcbride
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Goodnight
Sleepless nights don't bother me at all
If dawn comes I won't worry
Something deep inside keeps me awake
I wish that you were here right beside me, woah
I recall when I was very young
And could not go to sleep
My father sang me songs to make me tired
But memories don't make it easier
So goodnight wherever you are sleeping
And I hope that if you dream you dream of me
So goodnight wherever you are sleeping
And I hope that if you dream you dream of me
Now I lie awake and it's no fun
Tossing and turning
I'd call you if it weren't so very late
But telephones don't bring you close to me, woah
I recall the times we stayed up late
Wide awake but still dreaming
There was nothing on this earth could make me tired
But memories don't make it easier
So goodnight wherever you are sleeping
And I hope that if you dream, if you dream, you dream of me
So goodnight wherever you are sleeping
And I hope that if you dream, if you dream, you dream of me
And I hope that if you dream you dream of me
song performed by by Erasure
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Noon Song
There are songs for the morning and songs for the night,
For sunrise and sunset, the stars and the moon;
But who will give praise to the fulness of light,
And sing us a song of the glory of noon?
Oh, the high noon, the clear noon,
The noon with golden crest;
When the blue sky burns, and the great sun turns
With his face to the way of the west!
How swiftly he rose in the dawn of his strength;
How slowly he crept as the morning wore by;
Ah, steep was the climbing that led him at length
To the height of his throne in the wide summer sky.
Oh, the long toil, the slow toil,
The toil that may not rest,
Till the sun looks down from his journey's crown,
To the wonderful way of the west!
Then a quietness falls over meadow and hill,
The wings of the wind in the forest are furled,
The river runs softly, the birds are all still,
The workers are resting all over the world.
Oh, the good hour, the kind hour,
The hour that calms the breast!
Little inn half-way on the road of the day,
Where it follows the turn to the west!
There's a plentiful feast in the maple-tree shade,
The lilt of a song to an old-fashioned tune,
The talk of a friend, or the kiss of a maid,
To sweeten the cup that we drink to the noon.
Oh, the deep noon, the full noon,
Of all the day the best!
When the blue sky burns, and the great sun turns
To his home by the way of the west.
poem by Henry Van Dyke
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Here I Sit
Here I sit
Fit to be split
Can't go to sleep
Can't stay awake
I feel cold and clammy
As i sit and think
Don't know what to do
I try to sleep, but can't
It's nearly 3 and I'm tired
Sleep won't come
She's under my skin
Can't get her out
Didn't know I could feel like this
I pray that there's a chance
But fear there isn't
I try to no avail
To make understand
Whats going on
I have learned one thing
love is not a toy
You will loose sleep
you will loose your mind
And love will leave you Sitting
With eyes wide shut
poem by Austin Guerber
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Morning After
Awakened by the sun light
Victimized by last night
Memories flashin through my head
Was I just born or am I dead?
Yesterdays forgotten, the morning after
I can taste you, I can hear your laughter
Fading in the distance
Recollections drifting
Bloodstains on my tattered clothes
Each minute the fear grows
If I could just lay down to rest
Im tired of searching for myself
If I am dead, how can I feel such love?
If I am dead, why am I dreaming?
If I am dead, where do I go from here?
If I am dead, why does this pain feel so good?
Is this my blood dried upon my face?
Or is it the love of someone else?
It tastes so sweet, just like you used to
So rescue me my love, splice us together
I remember loving you so much
But where are you and wheres your fatal touch?
When I closed my eyes, was it my siesta?
Did I encounter a darkness stronger than sleep?
I am thirsty for my sleep
There are no answers anyway...
song performed by by Faith No More
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Dawn
Here in the little room
You sleep the sleep of innocent tired youth,
While I, in very sooth,
Tired, and awake beside you in the gloom,
Watch for the dawn, and feel the morning make
A loneliness about me for your sake.
You are so young, so fair,
And such a child, and might have loved so well;
And now, I cannot tell,
But surely one might love you anywhere,
Come to you as a lover, and make bold
To beg for that which all may buy with gold.
Your sweet, scarce lost, estate
Of innocence, the candour of your eyes,
Your childlike pleased surprise,
Your patience: these afflict me with a weight
As of some heavy wrong that I must share
With God who made, and man who found you, fair.
poem by Arthur Symons
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A Child
A child,
Curious and innocent,
Slips from his Nurse, and rejoicing
Loses himself in the Fair.
Thro' the jostle and din
Wandering, he revels,
Dreaming, desiring, possessing;
Till, of a sudden
Tired and afraid, he beholds
The sordid assemblage
Just as it is; and he runs
With a sob to his Nurse
(Lighting at last on him),
And in her motherly bosom
Cries him to sleep.
Thus thro' the World,
Seeing and feeling and knowing,
Goes Man: till at last,
Tired of experience, he turns
To the friendly and comforting breast
Of the old nurse, Death.
poem by William Ernest Henley
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Dont Be Careless Love
Burn the midnight lamp
Down until the dawn,
Ill keep watch until Im sure your coming home.
Shadows play and flicker on the bedroom wall
They turn into a bad dream overnight,
Something could be terribly wrong.
Dont be careless love,
Dont be careless love,
Dont be, dont be careless.
In my dream youre running nowhere
Every step youve taken turns to glue,
Walking down a spiral staircase
Failing through, failing through,
Dont be careless love,
Be careless love.
The lamp burns down and out
Im getting pretty tired of this,
I feel so bad something might be going amiss,
I wont be there so look out for yourself
Youre getting in deep whatever you do,
Dont let me go back to sleep,
Dont be careless love,
Dont be careless love,
Dont be, dont be careless.
Saw your face in the morning paper,
Saw your body rolled up in a rug
Chopped up into two little pieces
By some thug,
Dont be careless love,
Be careless love.
But in the morning light
When I wake up again
Youre by my side and thats the way its always been,
But in the dark your mind plays funny tricks on you,
Your mind plays funny tricks on you,
Your mind plays funny tricks on you,
Dont be careless love.
song performed by by Paul McCartney
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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