Now welcome, Night! thou night so long expected,
That long daies labour doest at last defray, 
And all my cares, which cruell Love collected,
Hast sumd in one, and cancelled for aye.
Spread thy broad wing over my Love and me,
That no man may us see; 
And in thy sable mantle us enwrap,
From feare of perrill and foule horror free.
Let no false treason seeke us to entrap,
Nor any dread disquiet once annoy
The safety of our ioy; 
But let the night be calme and quietsome,
Without tempestuous storms or sad afray;
Lyke as when Iove with fayre Alemena lay,
When he begot the great Tirynthian groome;
Or lyke as when he with thy selfe did lie, 
And begot Maiesty:
And let the mayds and yongmen cease to sing;
Ne let the woods them answer, nor theyr eccho ring.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with The Poetical Works of Edmund Spenser, Volume V, edited by Francis J. Child, London: Imprinted for William Ponsonbie, dwelling in Paules Churchyard at the Signe of the Bishops Head, 1591.

Text as set by Vaughan Williams:

Now welcome night! thou night so long expected,
That long day's labour dost at last defray,
And all my cares, which cruel love collected,
Hast summed in one, and cancellèd for aye:
Spread thy broad wing over my love and me,   
that no man may us see,
And in thy sable mantle us enwrap,
From fear of peril and foul horror free.

Text Authorship:

• by Edmund Spenser (1552 - 1599), no title, appears in Amoretti and Epithalamion, in Epithalamion, no. 18 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

[ None yet in the database ]

The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

• by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "The minstrel's song", 1957, published 1957 [ baritone, mixed chorus, orchestra ], from cantata Epithalamion, no. 9, London, Oxford University Press
  • View the full text. [sung text checked 1 time]
    

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Gustav Ringel

This text was added to the website: 2020-01-11
Line count: 19
Word count: 142