Classic Poem

(FOR MUSIC.)

"O, let me slumber--let me sleep!"
The fair-haired boy in whispers sighed;
Then sank upon the snowy steep,
While friendly hearts to rouse him tried.
"O, let me sleep!" and as he spake
His weary spirit sought its rest,
And slept, no more again to wake,
Save haply there--among the blest.
Sleep--sleep--sleeping:
He sleeps beneath the starry dome;
And far away his mother, weeping,
Waits his coming home.

We raised him gently from the snow,
And bore him in our arms away.
The sweet white face is smiling now--
Made whiter by the moon's pale ray.
And when the sun in beauty rose
We laid him in the silent tomb,
Where mountains with eternal snows
High up tow'rds Heaven grandly loom.
Sleep--sleep--sleeping:
He sleeps beneath the starry dome;
And far away his mother, weeping,
Waits his coming home.