Midnight

The air is dark and fragrant
    With memories of a shower,
And sanctified with stillness
    By this most holy hour.

The leaves forget to whisper
    Of soft and secret things,
And every bird is silent,
    With folded eyes and wings.

O blessed hour of midnight,
    Of sleep and of release,
Thou yieldest to the toiler
    The wages of thy peace.

And I, who have not laboured,
    Nor borne the heat of noon,
Receive thy tranquil quiet--
    An undeserved boon.

Yes, truly God is gracious,
    Who makes His sun to shine
Upon the good and evil,
    And idle lives like mine.

Upon the just and unjust
    He sends His rain to fall,
And gives this hour of blessing
    Freely alike to all.

Robert Fuller Murray

Robert Fuller Murray was a Scottish poet known for his lyrical and expressive poetry. Born on December 26, 1863, in Roxbury, Massachusetts, he moved to Scotland at a young age. Despite a short life, ending on April 15, 1894, Murray left a significant mark with his works, which often reflected themes of nature and human emotion. His poetry is characterized by its elegance and depth of feeling. Murray's influence remained through posthumous publications and collections of his poetry.

Robert Fuller Murray

Song From 'The Princess'

Robert Fuller Murray, Simple Poetry

The Death Of William Rufus

Robert Fuller Murray, Simple Poetry

The Burial Of William The Conqueror

Robert Fuller Murray, Simple Poetry

Golden Dream

Robert Fuller Murray, Simple Poetry

English

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At Midnight

Turn Thou the key upon our thoughts, dear Lord,
And let us sleep;
Give us our portion of forgetfulness,
Silent and deep.

Lay Thou Thy quiet hand upon our eyes
To close their sight;
Shut out the shining of the moon and stars
And candle-light.

Keep back the phantoms and the visions sad,
The shades of grey,
The fancies that so haunt the little hours
Before the day.

Quiet the time-worn questions that are all
Unanswered yet,
Take from the spent and troubled souls of us
Their vain regret;

And lead us far into Thy silent land,
That we may go
Like children out across the field o' dreams
Where poppies blow.

So all Thy saints - and all Thy sinners too -
Wilt Thou not keep,
Since not alone unto Thy well-beloved<...

Virna Sheard

A Late Good Night

My lamp is out, my task is done,
    And up the stair with lingering feet
I climb.    The staircase clock strikes one.
    Good night, my love! good night, my sweet!

My solitary room I gain.
    A single star makes incomplete
The blackness of the window pane.
    Good night, my love! good night, my sweet!

Dim and more dim its sparkle grows,
    And ere my head the pillows meet,
My lids are fain themselves to close.
    Good night, my love! good night, my sweet!

My lips no other words can say,
    But still they murmur and repeat
To you, who slumber far away,
    Good night, my love! good night, my sweet!

Robert Fuller Murray

A Noonday Melody

Everything goes to its rest;
    The hills are asleep in the noon;
And life is as still in its nest
    As the moon when she looks on a moon
In the depth of a calm river's breast
    As it steals through a midnight in June.

The streams have forgotten the sea
    In the dream of their musical sound;
The sunlight is thick on the tree,
    And the shadows lie warm on the ground,--
So still, you may watch them and see
    Every breath that awakens around.

The churchyard lies still in the heat,
    With its handful of mouldering bone,
As still as the long stalk of wheat
    In the shadow that sits by the stone,
As still as the grass at my feet
    When I walk in the meadows alone.

The waves are asleep on the main,
    And the ships ...

George MacDonald

The Sabbath Of The Woods

Sundown--and silence--and deep peace,--
Night's benediction and release;--
The tints of day die out and cease.

This morn I heard the Sabbath bells
Across the breezy upland swells;--
My path lay down the woodland dells.

To-day, I said, the dust of creeds,
The wind of words reach not my needs;--
I worship with the birds and weeds.

From height to height the sunbeam sprung,
The wild vine, touched with vermeil, clung,
The mountain brooklet leapt and sung.

The white lamp of the lily made
A tender light in deepest shade,--
The solitary place was glad.

The very air was tremulous,--
I felt its deep and reverent hush,--
God burned before me in the bush!

And nature prayed with folded palm,
And looks that wear perpetual c...

Kate Seymour Maclean

Ursula

There is a village in a southern land,
By rounded hills closed in on every hand.
The streets slope steeply to the market-square,
Long lines of white-washed houses, clean and fair,
With roofs irregular, and steps of stone
Ascending to the front of every one.
The people swarthy, idle, full of mirth,
Live mostly by the tillage of the earth.

Upon the northern hill-top, looking down,
Like some sequestered saint upon the town,
Stands the great convent.

            On a summer night,
Ten years ago, the moon with rising light
Made all the convent towers as clear as day,
While still in deepest shade the village lay.
Both light and shadow with repose were filled,
The village sounds, the convent bells were stilled.
No foot in all the streets was now asti...

Robert Fuller Murray

The Holy Midnight

    Ah, holy midnight of the soul,
        When stars alone are high;
    When winds are resting at their goal,
        And sea-waves only sigh!

    Ambition faints from out the will;
        Asleep sad longing lies;
    All hope of good, all fear of ill,
        All need of action dies;

    Because God is, and claims the life
        He kindled in thy brain;
    And thou in him, rapt far from strife,
        Diest and liv'st again.

George MacDonald