Classic Poem

FOR AN EARLY Morning S ERVICE )

S LEEP has refresh'd our limbs: we spring
Out of our beds, as men in fear:
Look on us, Father, while we sing;
We pray Thee, be Thou very near.

Be Thou the first in every tongue;
Thine be each heart's first loving glow,
That all its doings, all day long,
O, Holy One, from Thee may flow.

Let darkness to the glory yield,
And gloom unto the star of day;
So may night's ill be purged and heal'd
By gift of Thy celestial ray.

So may night's harm (this too we ask
In humble prayer) be hewn away:
So praise may be our endless task,
E'en as we hymn Thee, Lord, to-day.