Sleeping and Waking
GOD giveth his beloved sleep;They lie securely ’neath his wingTill the night pale, the dawning break;Safe in its overshadowingThey fear no dark and harmful thing;—What does he give to those who wake?
To those who sleep he gives good dreams;For bodies overtasked and spentComes rest to comfort every ache;To weary eyes new light is sent,To weary spirits new content;—What does God give to those who wake?
His angels sit beside the bedsOf such as rest beneath his care.Unweariedly their post they take,They wave their wings to fan the air,They cool the brow and stroke the hair,—God comes himself to those who wake.
To fevered eyes that cannot close,To hearts o’erburdened with their lot,He comes to soothe, to heal, to slake;Close to the pillows hard and hotHe stands, although they see him not,And taketh care of those who wake.
Nor saint nor angel will he trustWith this one blessed ministry,Lest they should falter or mistake;They guard the sleepers faithfullyWho are the Lord’s beloved; but heWatches by those beloved who wake.
Oh, in the midnight dense and drear,When life drifts outward with the tide,And mortal terrors overtake,In this sure thought let us abide,And unafraid be satisfied,—God comes himself to those who wake!
Words in this poem
- ache n.
- A name given to several species of plants; as, smallage, wild celery, parsley. Holland. [F. ache, L. apium parsley.]
- soothe v. t.
- To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
- falter v. t.
- To thrash in the chaff; also, to cleanse or sift, as barley.
- drear n.
- Sadness; dismalness.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sleeping and Waking is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Few More Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #49518; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Susan Coolidge, Sleeping and Waking, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/sleeping-and-waking.html, id L23477.
Form and metre
Sleeping and Waking is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -ABAAB sleep · wingA · breakB · overshadowingA · thingA · wakeB
- 2 -ABAAB dreams · spentA · acheB · sentA · contentA · wakeB
- 3 -ABAAB beds · careA · takeB · airA · hairA · wakeB
- 4 -ABAAB close · lotA · slakeB · hotA · notA · wakeB
- 5 --A--A trust · ministry · mistakeA · faithfully · he · wakeA
- 6 -ABAAB drear · tideA · overtakeB · abideA · satisfiedA · wakeB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| GOD giveth his beloved sleep; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| They lie securely ’neath his wing | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Till the night pale, the dawning break; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Safe in its overshadowing | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| They fear no dark and harmful thing;— | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| What does he give to those who wake? | 8 | ········ |
| To those who sleep he gives good dreams; | 8 | ········ |
| For bodies overtasked and spent | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Comes rest to comfort every ache; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| To weary eyes new light is sent, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To weary spirits new content;— | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| What does God give to those who wake? | 8 | ········ |
| His angels sit beside the beds | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Of such as rest beneath his care. | 8 | ········ |
| Unweariedly their post they take, | 8 | ········ |
| They wave their wings to fan the air, | 8 | ········ |
| They cool the brow and stroke the hair,— | 8 | ········ |
| God comes himself to those who wake. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| To fevered eyes that cannot close, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To hearts o’erburdened with their lot, | 8 | ········ |
| He comes to soothe, to heal, to slake; | 8 | ········ |
| Close to the pillows hard and hot | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He stands, although they see him not, | 8 | ········ |
| And taketh care of those who wake. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Nor saint nor angel will he trust | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With this one blessed ministry, | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| Lest they should falter or mistake; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| They guard the sleepers faithfully | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Who are the Lord’s beloved; but he | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Watches by those beloved who wake. | 8 | /˘··˘/·· |
| Oh, in the midnight dense and drear, | 8 | ···/···· |
| When life drifts outward with the tide, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And mortal terrors overtake, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| In this sure thought let us abide, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And unafraid be satisfied,— | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| God comes himself to those who wake! | 8 | ··˘/···· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.