The Morning-Watch
The Morning-Watch
Original Text
Henry Vaughan, Silex Scintillans (1650). Scolar Press, 1970. PR 3669 R2 1680AC ROBA.
1O joys! infinite sweetness! with what flow'rs
2And shoots of glory my soul breaks and buds!
3 All the long hours
4 Of night, and rest,
5 Through the still shrouds
6 Of sleep, and clouds,
7 This dew fell on my breast;
8 Oh, how it bloods
9And spirits all my earth! Hark! In what rings
10And hymning circulations the quick world
11 Awakes and sings;
12 The rising winds
13 And falling springs,
14 Birds, beasts, all things
15 Adore him in their kinds.
16 Thus all is hurl'd
17In sacred hymns and order, the great chime
18And symphony of nature. Prayer is
19 The world in tune,
20 A spirit voice,
21 And vocal joys
22 Whose echo is heav'n's bliss.
23 O let me climb
24When I lie down! The pious soul by night
25Is like a clouded star whose beams, though said
26 To shed their light
27 Under some cloud,
28 Yet are above,
29 And shine and move
30 Beyond that misty shroud.
31 So in my bed,
32That curtain'd grave, though sleep, like ashes, hide
33My lamp and life, both shall in thee abide.
Publication Start Year
1650
RPO poem Editors
N. J. Endicott
RPO Edition
3RP 1.370-71.
Rhyme