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by Henry Vaughan (1622 - 1695)

The evening watch
Language: English 
The body
 Farewell! I go to sleep; but, when
 The day star springs, I'll wake again.

The soul
 Go, sleep in peace; and when thou liest
 Unnumbered in thy dust, when all this frame
 Is but one dram, and what thou now descriest
 In sev'ral parts shall want a name,
 Then may his peace be with thee, and each dust
 Writ in his book, who ne'er betray'd man's trust!

The body
 Amen! but hark, ere we two stray,
 How many hours dost think till day?

The soul
 Ah! go; thou'rt weak and sleepy. Heav'n
 Is a plain watch, and without figures winds
 All ages up; who drew this circle even
 He fills it; days and hours are blinds.
 Yet, this take with thee; the last gasp of time
 Is thy first breath, and man's eternal Prime.

Text Authorship:

  • by Henry Vaughan (1622 - 1695) [author's text not yet checked 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 Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934), "The evening watch", op. 43 no. 1, H. 159. [chorus] [
     text verified 1 time
    ]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-12-30
Line count: 20
Word count: 136

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