Spirit that breathest through my lattice, thou
That cool’st the twilight of the sultry day,
Gratefully flows thy freshness round my brow;
Thou hast been out upon the deep at play,
Riding all day the wild blue waves till now,
Roughening their crests, and scattering high their spray,
And swelling the white sail. I welcome thee
...
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o thou great Movement of the Universe,
Or Change, or Flight of Time—for ye are one!
That bearest, silently, this visible scene
Into night’s shadow and the streaming rays
Of starlight, whither art thou bearing me?
I feel the mighty current sweep me on,
Yet know not whither. Man foretells afar
The courses of the stars; the very hour... -
Softly now the light of day
Fades upon my sight away;
Free from care, from labor free,
Lord, I would commune with Thee:Thou, whose all-pervading eye,
Naught escapes, without, within,
Pardon each infirmity,
Open fault and secret sin.Soon, for me, the light of day
Shall forever pass away;
Then, from sin and... -
Slowly by God’s hand unfurled,
Down around the weary world
Falls the darkness; oh, how still
Is the working of Thy will!Mighty Maker! Here am I,—
Work in me as silently,
Veil the day’s distracting sights,
Show me heaven’s eternal lights.From the darkened sky come forth
Countless stars, a wondrous birth!
So... -
What domes and pinnacles of mist and fire
Are builded in yon spacious realms of light
All silently, as did the walls aspire
Templing the ark of God by day and night!
Noiseless and swift, from darkening ridge to ridge,
Through purple air that deepens down the day,
Over the valley springs a shadowy bridge.
The evening star’s keen,... -
I
the birds have hid, the winds are low,
The brake is awake, the grass aglow:
The bat is the rover,
No bee on the clover,
The day is over,
And evening come.The heavy beetle spreads her wings,
The toad has the road, the cricket sings:
The bat is the rover,
No bee on the clover,
The day is over,
And... -
Now the day is over,
Night is drawing nigh,
Shadows of the evening
Steal across the sky.Now the darkness gathers,
Stars begin to peep,
Birds and beasts and flowers
Soon will be asleep.Jesu, give the weary
Calm and sweet repose;
With thy tenderest blessing
May our eyelids close....
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O Thou of home the guardian Lar,
And, when our earth hath wandered far
Into the cold, and deep snow covers
The walks of our New England lovers,
Their sweet secluded evening-star!
’T was with thy rays the English Muse
Ripened her mild domestic hues;
’T was by thy flicker that she conned
The fireside wisdom that enrings
With... -
From upland slopes I see the cows file by,
Lowing, great-chested, down the homeward trail,
By dusking fields and meadows shining pale
With moon-tipped dandelions; flickering high,
A peevish night-hawk in the western sky
Beats up into the lucent solitudes,
Or drops with griding wing; the stilly woods
Grow dark and deep, and gloom... -
Star that bringest home the bee,
And sett’st the weary laborer free!
If any star shed peace, ’t is thou,
That send’st it from above,
Appearing when heaven’s breath and brow
Are sweet as hers we love.Come to the luxuriant skies,
Whilst the landscape’s odors rise,
Whilst far-off lowing herds are heard,
And songs...