Death & Dying
Ode, Written in the Beginning of the Year 1746 (How Sleep the Brave)
From Odes on Several Descriptive and Allegorical Subjects (1746)
How sleep the brave, who sink to rest,
By all their country's wishes bless'd!
When Spring, with dewy fingers cold,
Returns to deck their hallow'd mould,
She there shall dress a sweeter sod
Than Fancy's feet have ever trod.
By fairy hands their knell is rung;
By forms unseen their dirge is sung;
There Honour comes, a pilgrim-gray,
To bless the turf that wraps their clay;
And Freedom shall awhile repair,
To dwell a weeping hermit there!
Codex Note
A twelve-line lament for soldiers fallen in battle, better known by its first line, ‘How sleep the brave.’ It was written at the start of 1746.
Cite this poem
MLA
Collins, William. “Ode, Written in the Beginning of the Year 1746 (How Sleep the Brave).” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/collins/8/.
Chicago
Collins, William. “Ode, Written in the Beginning of the Year 1746 (How Sleep the Brave).” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/collins/8/.
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