by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674)
To his sweet saviour
Language: English
Night hath no wings to him that cannot sleep, And time seems then not for to fly, but creep; Slowly her chariot drives, as if that she Had broke her wheel[, or crack'd her axletree]1. [Just so it is with me, who, list'ning, pray]2 The winds to blow the tedious night away, [That I might see the cheerful, peeping day.]1 Sick is my heart! O Saviour! do Thou please To make my bed soft in my sicknesses: Lighten my candle, so that I beneath Sleep not for ever in the vaults of death; Let me Thy voice betimes i' th' morning hear: Call, and I'll come; say Thou the when, and where. [Draw me but first, and after Thee I'll run And make no one stop till my race be done.]1
View original text (without footnotes)
1 omitted by Dyson.
2 Dyson: "So 'tis with me, who listening pray"
This text (or a part of it) is used in a work
Researcher for this page: Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor]
1 omitted by Dyson.
2 Dyson: "So 'tis with me, who listening pray"
Authorship:
- by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674), "To his sweet saviour" [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):
- by Betty Roe (b. 1930), "To his sweet saviour", published 1972 [counter-tenor (or mezzo-soprano or baritone) and piano or harpsichord], from Noble Numbers, no. 5. [text verified 1 time]
This text (or a part of it) is used in a work
- by George Dyson (1883 - 1964), "Night hath no wings", 1945-9, from Quo Vadis: a Cycle of Poems, no. 4..
Researcher for this page: Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2009-10-15
Line count: 15
Word count: 131