I know it must be winter (though I sleep)— I know it must be winter, for I dream I dip my bare feet in the running stream, And flowers are many, and the grass grows deep.
I know I must be old (how age deceives!) I know I must be old, for, all unseen, My heart grows young, as autumn fields grow green When late rains patter on the falling sheaves.
I know I must be tired (and tired souls err)— I know I must be tired, for all my soul To deeds of daring beats a glad, faint roll, As storms the riven pine to music stir.
I know I must be dying (Death draws near)— I know I must be dying, for I crave Life—life, strong life, and think not of the grave, And turf-bound silence, in the frosty year.
This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on January 4, 2020, by the Academy of American Poets.
About this Poem “Winter Sleep” originally appeared in A Winter Swallow (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1896)
Edith Matilda Thomas was born in Ohio in 1854. Her collections include A Winter Swallow (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1896) and Fair Shadow Land (Houghton, Mifflin and Co., 1893). She died in 1925.
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