SLEEP SWEET

 

          SLEEP SWEET

Sleep is a necessity which must be fulfilled every day, failing which we cannot remain healthy. According to medicos for most adults, eight hours of sleep is compulsory.  Less than that is sleep deprivation which causes various health issues  like low energy, less consciousness, weight gain, high blood pressure, cardiac ailments, diabetes, depression and tiredness.  

However, mere sleep is not a surety for good health.  It should be an un-disturbed, carefree sleep which refreshes both the body and the mind.

Given below is a short poem : Sleep Sweet, written by American poet Ellen M. Huntington Gates (1835-1920). It pleads for a quiet sleep during which you think of no mournful yesterdays and also of no unlucky tomorrows.

As you get ready for sleep, you should forget everything, including yourself, the whole world, and  remember only God your maker and eternal protector. Let there be no garish light in your room . Just  notice ‘ The stars are shining overhead’ to give you comfortable sleep with sweet dreams,

The poem reads as follows:

SLEEP sweet within this quiet room,

O thou, whoe’er thou art,

And let no mournful yesterdays

Disturb thy peaceful heart.

 

Nor let tomorrow mar thy rest

With dreams of coming ill:

Thy Maker is thy changeless friend,

His love surrounds thee still.

 

Forget thyself and all the world,

Put out each garish light:

The stars are shining overhead---

Sleep sweet! Good night! Good night!

 

                                    ******

G.R.Kanwal

23 August 2023