Beneath her steady ray
The desert-circle spreads.
Like the round ocean, girdled with the sky.
How beautiful is night!
_Thalaba_. R. SOUTHEY.
This sacred shade and solitude, what is it?
'Tis the felt presence of the Deity.
* * * * *
By night an atheist half believes a God.
_Night Thoughts, Night V_. DR. E. YOUNG.
Night, sable goddess! from her ebon throne,
In rayless majesty, now stretches forth
Her leaden sceptre o'er a slumbering world.
_Night Thoughts, Night I_. DR. E. YOUNG.
All is gentle; naught
Stirs rudely; but, congenial with the night,
Whatever walks is gliding like a spirit.
_Doge of Venice_. LORD BYRON.
O radiant Dark! O darkly fostered ray!
Thou hast a joy too deep for shallow Day.
_The Spanish Gypsy, Bk. I_. GEORGE ELIOT.
I linger yet with Nature, for the night
Hath been to me a more familiar face
Than that of man; and in her starry shade
Of dim and solitary loveliness,
I learned the language of another world.
_Manfred, Act iii. Sc. 4_. LORD BYRON.
Night is the time for rest;
How sweet, when labors close.
To gather round an aching breast
The curtain of repose,
Stretch the tired limbs, and lay the head
Down on our own delightful bed!
_Night_.
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