Sunday, December 01, 2019
The Solemn Noon of Night
Thomas Warton (1726-1790), "The Pleasures of Melancholy," lines 50-58:
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Nor undelightful is the solemn noonId., lines 79-83:
Of night, when haply wakeful from my couch
I start: lo, all is motionless around!
Roars not the rushing wind; the sons of men
And every beast in mute oblivion lie;
All nature's hush'd in silence and in sleep.
O then how fearful is it to reflect
That through the still globe's awful solitude,
No being wakes but me!
Then let my thought contemplative exploreId., lines 279-285:
This fleeting state of things, the vain delights,
The fruitless toils, that still our search elude,
As through the wilderness of life we rove.
O come then, Melancholy, queen of thought!
O come with saintly look, and steadfast step,
From forth thy cave embower'd with mournful yew,
Where ever to the curfew's solemn sound
Listening thou sitt'st, and with thy cypress bind
Thy votary's hair, and seal him for thy son.
