The Sleep-Walkers
In the town where I was born lived a woman and her daughter, whowalked in their sleep.
One night, while silence enfolded the world, the woman and herdaughter, walking, yet asleep, met in their mist-veiled garden.
And the mother spoke, and she said: "At last, at last, my enemy!You by whom my youth was destroyed--who have built up your lifeupon the ruins of mine! Would I could kill you!"
And the daughter spoke, and she said: "O hateful woman, selfishand old! Who stand between my freer self and me! Who would havemy life an echo of your own faded life! Would you were dead!"
At that moment a cock crew, and both women awoke. The mother saidgently, "Is that you, darling?" And the daughter answered gently,"Yes, dear."
Words in this poem
- veiled a.
- Covered by, or as by, a veil; hidden.
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- hateful a.
- Manifesting hate or hatred; malignant; malevolent.
- freer n.
- One who frees, or sets free.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Sleep-Walkers is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Madman: His Parables and Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #5616; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Kahlil Gibran, The Sleep-Walkers, in The Madman: His Parables and Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5616, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gibran-madman/the-sleep-walkers.html, id L27286.
About this section
The Sleep-Walkers is prose, printed in 5 paragraphs. It is part of the edition and is kept for reading, but nothing here is measured: the line breaks are the printer's, so no metre, rhyme scheme or scansion is stated.
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