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PRAYER TO SLEEP.
FROM STATIUS.
"Crimine quo merui juvenis, placidissime Divûm,"
&c. &c.
Sylv. Lib. V. 24.
&c. &c.
Sylv. Lib. V. 24.
What have I done, most gentle Deity?
What ignorant sin has thus offended thee,
That I alone of living things must mourn
Thy gifts denied, youth's slumbers from me torn?
Thou blessest all besides;—the flocks have rest,
The wild beasts, and each bird within its nest:
The very trees a drowsy stillness keep,
And their curved heads bow low, as if with sleep;
The rapid river pauses from its roar;
The calm sea leans upon the sloping shore,
And slumbers, in serene forgetfulness
Of all the storms that lash'd its fierce distress.
Seven anxious nights returning to her throne
Hath Cynthia now with pitying glances shone
O'er my wan cheek and stiffening eyelids pale;
Seven times the star that lights th' Hesperian vale,
And that which welcomes the approach of day,
Have lit their heavenly lamps and died away;
What ignorant sin has thus offended thee,
That I alone of living things must mourn
Thy gifts denied, youth's slumbers from me torn?
Thou blessest all besides;—the flocks have rest,
The wild beasts, and each bird within its nest:
The very trees a drowsy stillness keep,
And their curved heads bow low, as if with sleep;
The rapid river pauses from its roar;
The calm sea leans upon the sloping shore,
And slumbers, in serene forgetfulness
Of all the storms that lash'd its fierce distress.
Seven anxious nights returning to her throne
Hath Cynthia now with pitying glances shone
O'er my wan cheek and stiffening eyelids pale;
Seven times the star that lights th' Hesperian vale,
And that which welcomes the approach of day,
Have lit their heavenly lamps and died away;