When round the earth the Father's hands
Have gently drawn the dark;
Sent off the sun to fresher lands,
And curtained in the lark;
'Tis sweet, all tired with glowing day,
To fade with fading light,
- And
- lie once more, the old weary way, Upfolded in the night.
If mothers o'er our slumbers bend,
And unripe kisses reap,
In soothing dreams with sleep they blend,
Till even in dreams we sleep.
- And
- if we wake while night is dumb, 'Tis sweet to turn and say,
It is an hour ere dawning come,
And I will sleep till day.