Sonnet XXXVIII (WHEN welcome slumber sets my spirit…)

WHEN welcome slumber sets my spirit free, Forth to fictitious happiness it flies, And where Elysian bowers of bliss arise, I seem, my Emmeline—to meet with thee! Ah! Fancy then, dissolving human ties, Gives me the wishes of my soul to see; Tears of fond pity fill thy soften'd eyes: In heavenly harmony—our hearts agree. Alas! these joys are mine in dreams alone, When cruel Reason abdicates her throne! Her harsh return condemns me to complain Thro' life unpitied, unreliev'd, unknown! And as the dear delusions leave my brain, She bids the truth recur—with aggravated pain!