Social Commentaries

Sonnet: I went to sleep at Dawn in Tuscany

by Hilaire Belloc 1870–1953

From Sonnets and Verse (1923)

Social Commentaries

I went to sleep at Dawn in Tuscany
Beneath a Rock and dreamt a morning dream.
I thought I stood by that baptismal stream
Whereon the bounds of our redemption lie.
And there, beyond, a radiance rose to take
My soul at passing, in which light your eyes
So filled me I was drunk with Paradise.
Then the day broadened, but I did not wake.

Here’s the last edge of my long parchment furled
And all was writ that you might read it so.
This sleep I swear shall last the length of day;
Not noise, not chance, shall drive this dream away:
Not time, not treachery, not good fortune--no,
Not all the weight of all the wears of the world.

MLA

Belloc, Hilaire. “Sonnet: I went to sleep at Dawn in Tuscany.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/belloc/118/.

Chicago

Belloc, Hilaire. “Sonnet: I went to sleep at Dawn in Tuscany.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/belloc/118/.

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