"To Sleep" by William Wordsworth ( Detailed Summary)Plus One

To Sleep

                                                                                                                          -  William Wordsworth

Detailed Summary 

Stanza 1

            “To Sleep” is a sonnet which is written by the great Romantic poet William Wordsworth. It consists of fourteen lines which are divided into an octave and sestet. As the poem begins, one can understand that the poet yearns to have a sound asleep but he is not getting. For getting sleep, he imagines a rustic scenery in his mind.

            In the poet’s imagination, he sees the countryside where a “flock of sheep” is moving in a relaxed and calm manner. Then he listens to the “sound” of the falling rain, and the “murmuring” of the bees. He also hears the sound of a flowing river which is going towards the sea. He can feel the winds which are blowing gently.  In his imagination, he sees “Smooth fields” which are ploughed by the farmers to start farming. In his imagination, he moves forward and sees flowing water which is moving so fastly that it forms white froth. He describes it as “white sheets of water”.  Then in his imagination, he looks at the sky which is very clear. There is no indication of a bad climate. All these indicate that nature is lulling the poet to go for a cozy sleep.

Stanza 2

Then the poet sadly tells that even though he imagines these to get a sound asleep, he is unable to sleep.  The poet knows that the time is moving swiftly. Soon it will be morning. He can hear “the small birds’ melodies”. He thinks that they will be making sweet sounds from his “orchard trees”. After that, he can hear the “first cuckoo’s melancholy cry”. These small birds and cuckoo are the clarions of the morning. In this poem, the poet used two symbols such as “melodies” which indicate relaxation and “melancholy” which indicates despair.

Third Stanza

            In this stanza, the poet tells that he did not get sleep for the past three days. He personifies sleep as a person whose heart he is trying to win by any means, “And could not win thee, Sleep ! by any stealth”. He is trying to win sleep by using various tactics. But he cannot conquer sleep. He yearns “Sleep” to come and give him a sound asleep/

Fourth Stanza

            In the last stanza, the poet tells the reason why he desires to have a sound asleep. If he does not have a sound asleep, then he cannot enjoy “morning’s wealth”, that is, the wonderful things such as chirping of birds, flowing river, grazing sheep, etc. that day gives to a person. So she again he pleads “Sleep”, and calls “Sleep” as “blessed barrier” because it comes between “day” and “day”. At the end of the poem, the poet calls “Sleep” as “Dear mother” because a kid gets a sound sleep when he/ she gets his/her mother’s presence. The poet knows well that if he gets a sound asleep, he will get “fresh thoughts” and “joyous health” which are necessary for the poet to write poetry.