by Francis Quarles (1592 - 1644) and sometimes misattributed to Charles I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland (1600 - 1649)
Close now thine eyes and rest secure
Language: English
Close now thine eyes and rest secure;
Thy soul is safe enough, thy body sure;
He that loves thee, He that keeps
And guards thee, never slumbers, never sleeps.
The smiling conscience in a sleeping breast
Has only peace, has only rest;
The music and the mirth of kings
Are all but very discords, when she sings;
Then close thine eyes and rest secure;
No sleep so sweet as thine, no rest so sure.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Francis Quarles (1592 - 1644), "A good night", appears in Divine Fancies: digested into epigrammes, meditations, and observations, Book IV, London: M. Flesher, first published 1632 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
- sometimes misattributed to Charles I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland (1600 - 1649)
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Close Now Thine Eyes", op. 342 (1952) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, [adaptation] ; composed by Jack Hamilton Beeson, Paul Frederic Bowles, Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Mary Plumstead, Henry Purcell.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-12
Line count: 10
Word count: 74