John Dowland - Come, Heavy Sleep

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John Dowland (1563-1626)
Come, Heavy Sleep (from The First Booke of Songs or Ayres)

Emily Gradowski, soprano
Nathan Cornelius, guitar
Recorded live in Hamilton Recital Hall
Newman Center for the Performing Arts
Denver, Colorado

Come, heavy Sleep, the image of true Death,
And close up these my weary weeping eyes,
Whose spring of tears doth stop my vital breath,
And tears my heart with Sorrow's sigh-swoll'n cries;
Come and possess my tired, thought-worn soul,
That living dies, till thou on me be stole.

Come, shadow of my end, and shape of rest,
Allied to Death, child to his black-fac'd Night;
Come thou and charm these rebels in my breast,
Whose waking fancies do my mind affright.
O come, sweet Sleep, come or I die forever;
Come ere my last sleep comes, or come never.