“Sleep” Introduction

• Read the full text of “Sleep”

“Sleep” Summary

“Sleep” Themes

• 

  The Comfort and Escape of Sleep

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-21

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Sleep”

• Lines 1-5

  Do you give ...
  ... Yes, utterly.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 6-7

  Then I shall ...
  ... to burial mysteriously,

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 8-11

  Take you and ...
  ... huger waves continually.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 12-15

  And you shall ...
  ... ride above you,

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 16-17

  Delve in my ...
  ... embodied so –

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 18-21

  Till daylight, the ...
  ... of harsh birth.

  

  

  

  

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“Sleep” Symbols

• 

  Water and Rivers

  Where this symbol appears in the poem:

  • Lines 6-7: “Then I shall bear you down my estuary, / Carry you and ferry you to burial mysteriously,”
  • Lines 10-11: “In the huge cave, my belly, lave you / With huger waves continually.”

“Sleep” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Personification

  

  

  

  

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  Where personification appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-4
  • Lines 6-21

• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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  Where repetition appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “utterly”
  • Line 2: “Body and no-body, flesh and no-flesh,”
  • Line 5: “utterly”
  • Line 6: “bear you”
  • Line 7: “Carry you and ferry you”
  • Line 8: “Take you and receive you”
  • Line 9: “Consume you,” “engulf you”
  • Line 10: “huge,” “lave you”
  • Line 11: “huger”
  • Line 12: “And,” “there”
  • Line 13: “And”
  • Line 14: “Beat,” “beat”

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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  Where alliteration appears in the poem:

  • Line 3: “blindly,” “bitterly”
  • Line 12: “cling,” “clamber”
  • Line 14: “Beat,” “blood's,” “beat,” “hear,” “heart”
  • Line 15: “Blindly,” “bones”
  • Line 16: “Delve,” “dissolved”
  • Line 17: “viewless,” “valves”
  • Line 19: “forth”
  • Line 20: “forceps”
  • Line 21: “betrayal,” “birth”

• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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  Where consonance appears in the poem:

  • Line 2: “flesh,” “flesh”
  • Line 3: “fugitive,” “blindly,” “bitterly”
  • Line 6: “bear,” “estuary”
  • Line 7: “Carry,” “ferry,” “burial,” “mysteriously”
  • Line 8: “receive”
  • Line 9: “Consume,” “engulf”
  • Line 10: “cave,” “belly,” “lave”
  • Line 11: “waves,” “continually”
  • Line 12: “shall,” “cling,” “clamber”
  • Line 13: “slumber,” “dumb,” “chamber”
  • Line 14: “Beat,” “blood's,” “beat,” “hear,” “heart”
  • Line 15: “Blindly,” “in,” “bones,” “ride,” “above”
  • Line 16: “Delve,” “flesh,” “dissolved,” “and,” “bedded”
  • Line 17: “viewless,” “valves,” “embodied”
  • Line 18: “Till,” “daylight,” “expulsion”
  • Line 19: “riving,” “driving,” “forth”
  • Line 20: “remorseless,” “forceps”
  • Line 21: “betrayal,” “harsh,” “birth”

• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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  Where assonance appears in the poem:

  • Line 6: “bear,” “estuary”
  • Line 7: “Carry,” “ferry,” “burial,” “mysteriously”
  • Line 9: “Consume,” “you,” “you”
  • Line 10: “huge,” “cave,” “lave,” “you”
  • Line 11: “huger,” “waves,” “continually”
  • Line 13: “slumber,” “dumb”
  • Line 15: “Blindly,” “ride”
  • Line 16: “Delve,” “flesh,” “bedded”
  • Line 19: “riving,” “driving,” “forth”
  • Line 20: “remorseless,” “forceps”
  • Line 21: “Pangs,” “betrayal”

• Imagery

  

  

  

  

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  Where imagery appears in the poem:

  • Lines 10-11: “In the huge cave, my belly, lave you / With huger waves continually.”
  • Lines 12-17: “And you shall cling and clamber there / And slumber there, in that dumb chamber, / Beat with my blood's beat, hear my heart move / Blindly in bones that ride above you, / Delve in my flesh, dissolved and bedded, / Through viewless valves embodied so –”
  • Lines 20-21: “Life with remorseless forceps beckoning – / Pangs”

• Simile

  

  

  

  

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  Where simile appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “Do you give yourself to me utterly,”
  • Line 3: “Not as a fugitive, blindly or bitterly,”
  • Line 4: “But as a child might, with no other wish?”

• Extended Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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  Where extended metaphor appears in the poem:

  • Lines 6-21

“Sleep” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Utterly
• Fugitive
• Estuary
• Ferry
• Engulf
• Lave
• Clamber
• Dumb
• Delve
• Dissolved
• Embodied
• Viewless
• Valves
• Expulsion
• Riving
• Remorseless
• Forceps
• Pangs

• (Location in poem: Line 1: “Do you give yourself to me utterly,”; Line 5: “Yes, utterly.”)

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Sleep”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Sleep” Speaker

“Sleep” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Sleep”

More “Sleep” Resources

• External Resources

  • Slessor's Life and Work — Explore a biography of Slessor and additional poems via the Poetry Foundation.

  • More About the Poet — A more in-depth look at Slessor's life.

  • In Slessor's Own Hand — A collection of Slessor's handwritten poetry drafts hosted by the National Library of Australia.

  • A Slessor Documentary — Listen to an ABC radio documentary about Slessor's life and literary contributions. 

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Kenneth Slessor

  • Beach Burial

  • Five Bells

  • Out of Time

  • William Street