"Winter Sleep" by Edith Matilda Thomas

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend Support Poem-a-Day January 4, 2020   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. Poetry by Thomas   A Winter Swallow (Hansebooks, 2016) "A Winter Scene" by Henry David Thoreau "January" by Helen Hunt Jackson "Winter in the Rockies" by Chelsea Dingman January Guest Editor: Meg Day   Thanks to Meg Day, author of Last Psalm at Sea Level (Barrow Street, 2014), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month's weekdays. Read a Q&A about Day's curatorial approach and find out more about our guest editors for the year. A culture break, a source of daily renewal...   If reading Poem-a-Day has become a meaningful part of your day, please consider supporting this free series with a donation. Your gift makes publishing Poem-a-Day possible. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit poets.org   Unsubscribe here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038