THE EVENING-WATCH: A DIALOGUE - Henry Van Dyke Poems

 
 

Poems » henry van dyke » the evening watch a dialogue

THE EVENING-WATCH: A DIALOGUE

BODY

     Farewell! I go to sleep; but when
     The day-star springs, I'll wake again.

SOUL

     Go, sleep in peace; and when thou liest
Unnumber'd in thy dust, when all this frame
Is but one dram, and what thou now descriest
     In sev'ral parts shall want a name,
Then may his peace be with thee, and each dust
Writ in his book, who ne'er betray'd man's trust!

BODY

     Amen! but hark, ere we two stray
     How many hours dost think 'till day?

SOUL

     Ah go; th'art weak, and sleepy. Heav'n
Is a plain watch, and without figures winds
All ages up; who drew this circle, even
     He fills it; days and hours are blinds.
Yet this take with thee. The last gasp of time
Is thy first breath, and man's eternal prime.