Night Lyrics
The evening star does shine;
The birds are silent in their nest.
And I must seek for mine.
The moon, like a flower
In heaven's high bower,
With silent delight
Sits and smiles on the night.
Farewell, green fields and happy grove,
Where flocks have took delight:
Where lambs have nibbled, silent move
The feet of angels bright;
Unseen they pour blessing
And joy without ceasing
On each bud and blossom,
And each sleeping bosom.
They look in every thoughtless nest
Where birds are cover'd warm;
They visit caves of every beast,
To keep them all from harm:
If they see any weeping
That should have been sleeping,
They pour sleep on their head,
And sit down by their bed.
They pitying stand and weep,
Seeking to drive their thirst away
And keep them from the sheep.
But, if they rush dreadful,
The angels, most heedful,
Receive each mild spirit,
New worlds to inherit.
And there the lion's ruddy eyes
Shall flow with tears of gold:
And pitying the tender cries,
And walking round the fold:
Saying, 'Wrath, by His meekness,
And, by His health, sickness,
Are driven away
From our immortal day.
'And now beside thee, bleating lamb,
I can lie down and sleep,
Or think on Him who bore thy name,
Graze after thee, and weep.
For, wash'd in life's river,
My bright mane for ever
Shall shine like the gold
As I guard o'er the fold.'
About
From Blake’s Songs of Innocence. published in 1794, this was one of the series of poems which present an idealised world, in contrast to the harsh realities of late 18th and early 19th Century life during the time of King George III, known — ironically given the terrible social conditions of the time — as the Romantic Era. Each poem in the “Songs of Innocence” category is matched by a grim portrayal in Songs of Experience. The contrast is Blake’s method of social protest.
In this poem night naturally signifies the end of the day but is also a metaphor for the end of life and the beginning of a new idealised world. The idea that nature is infected by human sin and must be restored was important to Blake. The theme is therefore one of wildness tamed and peace descending, where predator and prey are not distinguished.
Night in this context holds no danger or threat. Prey animals will no longer hunt and kill. The often quoted ‘lion lay down with the lamb’ doesn’t appear in the bible, but the nearest is Isiah65:25:
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.
Structure
The poem comprises six eight-line stanzas, with lines that shorten towards the end as Blake builds to a dramatic conclusion within each stanza. The metre is irregular to create rhythmic changes that make this a more complex poem than it first appears. Broadly each stanza stars with iambic tetrameters, but the second half of each stanza has shorter lines make up of a more jaunty rhythm to reflect the positive message.
There is a complex ABABCCDD rhyme scheme. Many of the rhymes are consonant, to reinforce the sophistication of his meaning; this is no nursery-rhyme jingle. For example, in stanza two ‘grove’ is consonantly rhymed with ‘move’.
Language and Imagery
Blake, in the style of the Romantics, uses nature imagery to give meaning to his argument. The idea of creatures who were once hunters protecting their prey is a metaphor for peace and ultimate paradise. Angels visit the ‘caves of every beast’ which are not killed and eaten. It is an idealised paradise, far from Tennyson’s ‘nature red in tooth and claw’.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
- 2.The Shepherd
- 4.The Lamb
- 6.The Blossom
- 10.Laughing Song
- 11.A Cradle Song
- 14.Night
- 17.Infant Joy
- 18.A Dream