The Night

Hilaire Belloc 1870 (La Celle-Saint-Cloud) – 1953



Most Holy Night, that still dost keep
The keys of all the doors of sleep,
To me when my tired eyelids close
    Give thou repose.

And let the far lament of them
That chaunt the dead day’s requiem
Make in my ears, who wakeful lie,
    Soft lullaby.

Let them that guard the hornàed Moon
By my bedside their memories croon.
So shall I have new dreams and blest
    In my brief rest.

Fold thy great wings about my face,
Hide day-dawn from my resting-place,
And cheat me with thy false delight,
    Most Holy Night.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 16, 2023

28 sec read
90

Quick analysis:

Scheme AAXX XXBB CCDD EEFF
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 506
Words 96
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4

Hilaire Belloc

Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc was an Anglo-French writer and historian who became a naturalised British subject in 1902, but kept his French citizenship. more…

All Hilaire Belloc poems | Hilaire Belloc Books

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