Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ANTHEM FOR THE EVENING by THOMAS FLATMAN

First Line: SLEEP! DOWNY SLEEP! COME CLOSE MY EYES
Last Line: LIKE INCENSE OR THE MORNING SACRIFICE.
Subject(s): EVENING; SUNSET; TWILIGHT;

SLEEP! downy sleep! come close my eyes,
Tir'd with beholding vanities!
Sweet slumbers come and chase away
The toils and follies of the day:
On your soft bosom will I lie,
Forget the world, and learn to die.
O Israel's watchful Shepherd! spread
Tents of Angels round my bed;
Let not the Spirits of the air,
While I slumber, me ensnare;
But save Thy suppliant free from harms,
Clasp'd in Thine everlasting Arms.
Clouds and thick darkness is Thy Throne,
Thy wonderful pavilion:
Oh dart from thence a shining ray,
And then my midnight shall be day!
Thus when the morn in crimson drest,
Breaks through the windows of the East,
My hymns of thankful praises shall arise
Like incense or the morning sacrifice.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net