First World War Poetry Digital Archive

Lights Out

LIGHTS OUT by EDWARD THOMAS I have come to the borders of sleep, The unfathomable deep Forest where all must lose Their way, however straight Or winding, soon or late; They can not choose. Many a road and track That, since the dawn's first crack Up to the forest brink Deceived the travellers, Suddenly now blurs, And in they sink. Here love ends--- Despair, ambition ends; All pleasure and all trouble, Although most sweet or bitter, Here ends, in sleep that is sweeter Than tasks most noble. There is not any book Or face of dearest look That I would not turn from now To go into the unknown I must enter, and leave, alone, I know not how. The tall forest towers: Its cloudy foliage lowers Ahead, shelf above shelf: Its silence I hear and obey That I may lose my way And myself.

Citation

“Lights Out,” by Thomas, Edward (1878-1917). Copyright Edward Thomas, 1979, reproduced under licence from Faber and Faber Ltd. via First World War Poetry Digital Archive, accessed May 4, 2024, http://ww1lit.nsms.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/collections/item/2859.

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