Evensong (A poem by George Herbert)


The Day is spent, and hath his will on me:
I and the Sun have run our races,
I went slower, yet more paces,
For I decay not he.

Lord, make my Losses up, and set me free:
That I, who cannot now by day
Look on his daring brightnes, may
Shine then more bright than he.

If thou defer this light, then shadow me:
Lest that the Night, earth's gloomy shade
Fouling her nest, my earth invade,
As if shades knew not Thee.

But thou art Light and darkness both together:
If that be dark we cannot see:
The sun is darker than a Tree,
And thou are more dark than either.

Yet Thou art not so dark, since I know this,
But that my darkness may tough thine:
And hope, that may teach it to hine,
Since Light thy Darkness is.

Oh let my Soul, whose keys I must deliver
Into the hands of senseless Dreams
Which know not thee, suck in thy beams,
And wake with the forever.

(Evensong, a poem by George Herbert)

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