Winter Sleep

Edith Matilda Thomas
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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