The Dream of Gerontius, Op. 38, Pt.2: I went to sleep

Soul of Gerontius:

I went to sleep and now I am refreshed. A strange refreshment, for I feel in me An inexpressive lightness, and a sense Of freedom, as I were at length myself,

And ne'er had been before. How still it is! I hear no more the busy beat of time,

No, nor my fluttering breath, nor struggling pulse,

Nor does one moment differ from the next.

This silence pours a solitariness Into the very essence of my soul:

And the deep rest so soothing and so sweet

Hath something too of sternness and of pain.

Another marvel: Someone has me fast Within his ample palm...

...A uniform

And gentle pressure tells me I am not

Self-moving, but borne forward on my way,

And hark! I hear a singing, yet in sooth

I cannot of that music rightly say

Whether I hear, or touch, or taste the tones.

Oh, what a heart-subduing melody!