“Good Night,” by “Peter Parley” (Samuel Griswold Goodrich) (from Robert Merry’s Museum, October 1848; p. 124)
The sun has sunk behind the hills,
The shadows o’er the landscape creep—
A drowsy sound the woodland fills,
And nature folds her arms to sleep:
Good night—good night.
The chattering jay has ceased his din—
The noisy robin sings no more—
The crow, his mountain haunt within,
Dreams mid the forest’s surly roar;
Good night—good night.
The sunlit cloud floats dim and pale—
The dew is falling soft and still—
The mist hangs trembling o’er the vale,
And silence broods o’er yonder mill:
Good night—good night.
The rose, so ruddy in the light,
Bends on its stem all rayless now,
And by its side the lily white
A sister shadow seems to bow:
Good night—good night.
The bat may wheel on silent wing—
The fox his guilty vigils keep—
The boding owl his dirges sing;
But love and innocence will sleep:
Good night—good night.