The Sleeper
By Edgar Allan Poe
At midnight, in the month of June,
I stand beneath the mystic moon.
An opiate vapor, dewy, dim,
Exhales from out her golden rim,
And, softly dripping, drop by drop,
Upon the quiet mountain top,
Steals drowsily and musically
Into the universal valley.
The rosemary nods upon the grave;
The lily lolls upon the wave;
Wrapping the fog about its breast,
The ruin moulders into rest;
Looking like Lethe, see! the lake
A conscious slumber seems to take,
And would not, for the world, awake.
All Beauty sleeps! — and lo! where lies
(Her casement open to the skies)
Irene, with her Destinies!
Oh, lady bright! can it be right —
This window open to the night!
The wanton airs, from the tree-top,
Laughingly through the lattice-drop —
The bodiless airs, a wizard rout,
Flit through thy chamber in and out,
And wave the curtain canopy
So fitfully — so fearfully —
Above the closed and fringed lid
'Neath which thy slumb'ring soul lies hid,
That, o'er the floor and down the wall,
Like ghosts the shadows rise and fall!
Oh, lady dear, hast thou no fear?
Why and what art thou dreaming here?
Sure thou art come o'er far-off seas,
A wonder to these garden trees!
Strange is thy pallor! strange thy dress!
Strange, above all, thy length of tress,
And this all-solemn silentness!
The lady sleeps! Oh, may her sleep
Which is enduring, so be deep!
Heaven have her in its sacred keep!
This chamber changed for one more holy,
This bed for one more melancholy,
I pray to God that she may lie
For ever with unopened eye,
While the dim sheeted ghosts go by!
My love, she sleeps! Oh, may her sleep,
As it is lasting, so be deep;
Soft may the worms about her creep!
Far in the forest, dim and old,
For her may some tall vault unfold —
Some vault that oft hath flung its black
And winged panels fluttering back,
Triumphant, o'er the crested palls,
Of her grand family funerals —
Some sepulchre, remote, alone,
Against whose portal she hath thrown,
In childhood many an idle stone —
Some tomb from out whose sounding door
She ne'er shall force an echo more,
Thrilling to think, poor child of sin!
It was the dead who groaned within.
1845
Note:
As "Irene," the earliest known version of "The Sleeper," appeared in the 1831 volume. It reappeared in the Literary Messenger for May 1836, and, in its present form, in the Broadway Journal for May 1845.
Poem Analysis:
Edgar Allan Poe’s The Sleeper is a haunting and melancholic meditation on death, sleep, and the passage of time. Originally titled Irene in its earliest version (1831), the poem underwent several revisions before reaching its final form in Broadway Journal in 1845. It exemplifies Poe’s signature themes—death of a beautiful woman, dreamlike imagery, and an eerie, hypnotic rhythm that mirrors the liminality between life and death.
Themes and Interpretations
1. Death and the Eternal Sleep
At its core, The Sleeper is a meditation on death disguised as sleep. Poe’s speaker observes the sleeping Irene, but the reader quickly realizes that she is not merely asleep—she is dead. Poe’s frequent use of sleep as a metaphor for death aligns with the Romantic fascination with the sublime and the afterlife.
The poem suggests that death is a peaceful, eternal rest:
"My love, she sleeps! Oh, may her sleep,
As it is lasting, so be deep;Soft may the worms about her creep!"
The speaker’s wish for Irene to remain undisturbed highlights both his grief and his resigned acceptance of her fate. Death, though sorrowful, is portrayed as tranquil, free from the suffering of life.
2. The Supernatural and the Gothic Atmosphere
Poe’s poetry is deeply rooted in the Gothic tradition, and The Sleeper is no exception. The poem is drenched in eerie and ghostly imagery:
"The bodiless airs, a wizard rout,Flit through thy chamber in and out,And wave the curtain canopySo fitfully — so fearfully."
The "bodiless airs" and "ghosts" reinforce the supernatural atmosphere, suggesting that the boundary between the living and the dead is blurred. The shadows moving along the walls evoke a spectral presence, as if spirits are watching over the deceased.
The setting—midnight in June—also contributes to the poem’s eerie beauty. Midnight is often associated with supernatural occurrences, and the month of June, traditionally a time of warmth and life, contrasts sharply with the theme of death.
3. Beauty and Death: Poe’s "Death of a Beautiful Woman" Motif
Poe frequently explored the theme of the "death of a beautiful woman" in his works, which he described as "the most poetical topic in the world." In The Sleeper, Irene embodies this motif. The speaker describes her in delicate, almost sacred terms:
"All Beauty sleeps! — and lo! where lies(Her casement open to the skies)Irene, with her Destinies!"
By emphasizing Irene’s beauty and her connection to the cosmos ("Her casement open to the skies"), Poe presents death not as grotesque but as something serene and poetic. There is a reverence in the speaker’s tone, as though Irene has transcended earthly suffering and now exists in a state of divine repose.
Symbolism and Imagery
1. The Moon and the Opium-Like Atmosphere
Poe describes the moon as “mystic” and emitting an “opiate vapor.” This contributes to the dreamlike, almost narcotic atmosphere of the poem. Opium, a common 19th-century drug, was associated with altered states of consciousness, and here it suggests the intoxicating transition between wakefulness and sleep, life and death.
The “golden rim” of the moon dripping upon the landscape also hints at a passage of time, reinforcing the theme that death is an inevitable, natural progression.
2. The Lake and Lethe (The River of Forgetfulness)
One of the most striking images in the poem is the lake, which Poe likens to Lethe, the river of forgetfulness in Greek mythology:
"Looking like Lethe, see! the lakeA conscious slumber seems to take,And would not, for the world, awake."
Lethe was believed to erase memories of the past life, allowing souls to enter the afterlife free of earthly burdens. By referencing Lethe, Poe implies that death brings a form of oblivion—one where pain and suffering are forgotten. The lake’s refusal to “awake” reinforces the idea that Irene’s eternal sleep should not be disturbed.
3. The Tomb and Childhood Innocence
The final stanza contains a particularly poignant image:
"Some sepulchre, remote, alone,Against whose portal she hath thrown,In childhood many an idle stone."
This suggests that Irene, as a child, once played near a tomb, unaware that she would one day rest in one. The irony is bittersweet—her youthful innocence contrasts with the inevitability of death. This moment also highlights a common theme in Poe’s work: the inescapable pull of mortality.
Structure and Sound
1. Hypnotic Rhythm and Musicality
Poe’s use of meter and repetition creates a lulling, almost hypnotic effect that mirrors the theme of sleep. The frequent use of soft consonants (s, l, m) and alliteration (e.g., “Soft may the worms about her creep”) enhances the sense of quiet stillness.
The rhyming couplets also contribute to the poem’s musicality. The rhythm ebbs and flows like a lullaby, reinforcing the idea of peaceful rest.
2. Repetition and Parallelism
Poe repeats key phrases, such as:
"My love, she sleeps! Oh, may her sleepAs it is lasting, so be deep;"
This repetition reinforces the speaker’s longing for Irene to remain undisturbed. It also creates an incantatory effect, as though the speaker is uttering a spell or prayer over her body.
The Sleeper is one of Poe’s most atmospheric and deeply melancholic poems, blending themes of love, death, and the supernatural into a dreamlike meditation. Through rich imagery, rhythmic beauty, and haunting symbolism, Poe portrays death not as something to be feared, but as an eternal, peaceful sleep. The poem’s reverence for the deceased Irene, combined with its Gothic and hypnotic qualities, makes it a timeless exploration of mortality and the fragile beauty of life.
In the end, The Sleeper invites us to contemplate the delicate line between life and death, between dream and reality—an invitation that remains as compelling today as it was in Poe’s time.