University of Virginia Library

The Influence Of The Night on Faith And Imagination

The day with well-known duties now is o'er;
No more, by its clear light, each thing I see
Distinct and plain to sight, or reason's power.
As fade familiar objects on my sight,
And on my ear the sounds of labor cease,
The higher faculties assert their power,
Imagination and adoring faith.
And now the night has come, mysterious night!
To call away my spirit from the earth,
That faith may quickened be in things unseen.
With mind no longer bent on daily tasks,
Or fixed on earth with its brief term of years;
Upward I gaze, and feel my soul expand,
And to its native height majestic tower.
Akin to mystery is the soul of man,
And in the stars he feels that mystery solved.
Not in the narrow space, which we call life,
I feel the boundaries of my being end;
To those vast cycles is my soul allied,
Which yonder orbs in mystic circles trace.
To me is given to call them each by name,
And, in the time to come, familiar grow
With all their hosts, as now with flowers of earth.
No more my mind, to one small orb confined,
Narrows its view; but flies from world to world,
From sun to sun, swifter than morning light.
Lift up your eyes, ye denizens of earth!
And raise your thoughts above its narrow sphere.
Let yonder countless stars a lesson teach.
Think not to earth, and earth alone, confined
This mortal race, with its attendant forms;
But, worthier thought, to each revolving sphere
Its own peculiar habitants assigned,
With varying life, to suit each changing scene.
Perhaps in yon fair planet-world there dwells
A happier race, though mortal, than on earth;
Where death is but a change to higher life,
Without its sufferings and without its fears.
There war may be unknown, and men in peace
And friendly intercourse united live.
To them may come, as once to men on earth,
Angels from higher spheres to bring them gifts;
To mingle freely in their peaceful homes,
And teach them of the Father's boundless love.
Thus as I muse, my faith doth stronger grow;
Imagination soars with loftier flight;
And, as the parched plant beneath the dews,
So is my spirit by the night restored.