"Sleep Is Supposed to Be"

Sleep Is Supposed to Be

by Emily Dickinson

Sleep is supposed to be,
By souls of sanity,
The shutting of the eye.

Sleep is the station grand
Down which on either hand
The hosts of witness stand!

Morn is supposed to be,
By people of degree,
The breaking of the day.

Morning has not occurred!

That shall Aurora be--
East of Eternity--

One with the banner gay--
One in the red array--
That is the break of Day!

Source: Poems of Sleep and Dreams. Everyman's Library, 2004. 51.