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by Emily Brontë (1818 - 1848)

Sleep brings no joy to me
Language: English 
Sleep brings no joy to me,
Remembrance never dies;
My soul is given to misery,
And lives in sighs.

Sleep brings no rest to me;
The shadows of the dead,
My wakening eyes may never see,
Surround my bed.

Sleep brings no hope to me;
In soundest sleep they come,
And with their doleful imagery
Deepen the gloom.

Sleep brings no strength to me,
No power renewed to brave:
I only sail a wilder sea,
A darker wave.

Sleep brings no friend to me
To soothe and aid to bear;
They all gaze on - how scornfully!
And I despair.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Emily Brontë (1818 - 1848), no title, appears in Poems by Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë Now for the First Time Printed, first published 1902 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by John Pierre Herman Joubert (1927 - 2019), "Sleep", published 1971 [ high voice and piano ], from Six Poems of Emily Brontë [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Elizabeth Maconchy (1907 - 1994), "Sleep brings no joy to me", 1937 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Robert Owens (1925 - 2017), "Sleep brings no joy", op. 18 no. 3 [ low voice and piano ], from 3 Songs for a Deep Voice and Piano, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Nick Peros (b. 1963), "Sleep brings no joy to me" [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 99

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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