In the first volume of a copy of the edition of 1836,--long kept by Wordsworth at Rydal Mount, and afterwards the property of the late Lord Coleridge--which has been referred to in the Preface to Vol. 1., and very often in the footnotes to all the volumes, signed C.--Wordsworth wrote in MS. two translations of a fragment of Michael Angelo's on Sleep, and a translation of some Latin verses by Thomas Warton on the same subject. These fragments were never included in any edition of his published works, and it is impossible to say to what year they belong. From their close relation to other translations from Michael Angelo,made by Wordsworth in 1806, I assign them, conjecturally, to the same year. The title is from Wordsworth's own MS.--ED.
I
Grateful is Sleep, my life, in stone bound fast,
More grateful still: while wrong and shame shall last,
On me can Time no happier state bestow
Than to be left unconscious of the woe.
Ah then, lest you awaken me, speak low.
II
Grateful is Sleep, more grateful still to be
Of marble; for while shameless wrong and woe
Prevail, 'tis best to neither hear nor see.
Then wake me not, I pray you. Hush, speak low.
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THE POETICAL WORKS OF WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, VOL. 8 (Completed)
PoetryThe Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, Vol. 8. Edited by William Knight
