Shadows (Howe)/For the Night
FOR THE NIGHT
IVE me of all thy weariness, O day!Let body, mind, and spirit so be spent
That when death's herald-brother, sleep, is sent,
Resistless, I may yield me to his sway
Till the black silence lulls me to content.
Then let the dark fall like a total shroud,
And fold me in till day again is bright,
Not lifting with the gray retreat of night,
To leave me lying mute before the crowd
Of gliding shapes that steal upon my sight.
And fold me in till day again is bright,
Not lifting with the gray retreat of night,
To leave me lying mute before the crowd
Of gliding shapes that steal upon my sight.
Dread ghosts are they of all my deeds misdone
And words unspoken; shield my wakeful bed
From hours of dawn when most they rear their head,
To whisper me of ungrasped moments gone,
To mock my impotence now all is sped.
And words unspoken; shield my wakeful bed
From hours of dawn when most they rear their head,
To whisper me of ungrasped moments gone,
To mock my impotence now all is sped.
Nor give me dreams, for they will lead my feet
To walk in paths wherefrom I needs must turn
For streets of day; and though in sleep I spurn
Their semblances, and vaguely scoff the cheat,
Yet when the parting comes, the heart will burn.
To walk in paths wherefrom I needs must turn
For streets of day; and though in sleep I spurn
Their semblances, and vaguely scoff the cheat,
Yet when the parting comes, the heart will burn.
Nay, as if under Death's dark still caress,
New courage silently would I attain
To fight the new day's fight—and not in vain,
If from its hours I win fresh weariness,
To make me ready for the night again.
New courage silently would I attain
To fight the new day's fight—and not in vain,
If from its hours I win fresh weariness,
To make me ready for the night again.