A Psalm of Night

                                    I.
Fades from the West the farewell light!
     Flung backward by the setting sun, 
And silence deepens as the Night
     Steals with its solemn shadows on!
Gathers the soft, refreshing dew
     O spiring grass and floweret stems— 
And lo! the everlasting blue
     Is radiant with a thousand gems.

                                    II.
Not only doth the voiceful Day
     Thy loving kindness Lord! proclaim—
But Night, with its sublime array 
     Of worlds, doth magnify Thy name!
Yea—while adoring seraphim
     Before Thee bend the milling knee, 
From every star a choral hymn 
     Goes up unceasingly to Thee!

                                    III.
Day unto Day doth utter speech,,
     And Night to Night thy voice makes known;
Through all the earth where Thought may reach,
     Is heard the glad and solemn tone—
And worlds, beyond the farthest stat
     Whose light hath reached a human eye, 
Catch the high anthem from afar 
     That rolls along Immensity!

                                    IV.
O, Holy Father! ‘mid the calm
     And stillness of this evening hour,
We, too, would lift our solemn psalm
     To praise Thy Goodness, and Thy Power!
For over us, as over all,
     Thy tender mercies still extend,
Nor vainly shall the contrite call
     On Thee, our Father and our Friend!

                                    V.
Kept by Thy goodness through the day,
     Thanksgiving to Thy name we pour—
Night o’er us, with its stars—we pray 
     Thy Love, to guard us evermore!  
In grief, console — in gladness, bless —
     In darkness, guide — in sickness cheer —
Till, in the SAVIOUR’S righteousness, 
     Before Thy throne our souls appear I