Lines.—I cannot sleep
I cannot sleep—my nights glide on
In one unbroken thought of thee;
And when the gloomy shades are gone,
I start the dawning light to see.
And as I watch the rising morn
Gain slowly o'er the yielding sky,
And mark another day new born,
That glows so brightly—yet must die—
I think how all the hopes we cherish
As transient, though as bright, will be;
And frailest of the hopes that perish
Were mine, that told of love and thee!
poem by Louisa Stuart Costello
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Related quotes
O Little Town Of Bethlehem
(Reverend Philip Brooks, Lewis H. Redner
O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by.
Yet in they dark streets shineth,
The everlasting light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.
For Christ is born of Mary,
And gathered all above
While mortals sleep the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars together,
Proclaim Thy holy birth.
And praises sing to God the king,
And peace to men on earth.
O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by.
Yet in they dark streets shineth,
The everlasting light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight...
song performed by by Travis Tritt
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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O Little Town Of Bethlehem
(arranged elvis presley)
Oh little town of bethlehem, how still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth, the everlasting light
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.
For christ is born of mary, and gathered all above
While mortals sleep the angels keep their watch of wondering love
Oh morning stars together, proclaim thy holy birth.
And praises sing to God the king, and peace to men on earth.
Oh little town of bethlehem, how still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth, the everlasting light
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.
song performed by by Elvis Presley
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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O Little Town Of Bethlehem
O Little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
the silent stars go by
Yet in the dark streeet shineth
the everlasting light
the hopes and fears of all the years
are met in thee tonight
For christ is born of mary and gathered all above
while mortals sleep the angels keep
their watch of wandering love
O morning stars together
proclaim the holy birth
and praises sing to god our king
and peace to men on earth
song performed by by Vince Gill
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Sonnet 43
When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see,
For all the day they view things unrespected;
But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee,
And darkly bright, are bright in dark directed.
Then thou, whose shadow shadows doth make bright,
How would thy shadow's form form happy show
To the clear day with thy much clearer light,
When to unseeing eyes thy shade shines so!
How would, I say, mine eyes be blessed made
By looking on thee in the living day,
When in dead night thy fair imperfect shade
Through heavy sleep on sightless eyes doth stay!
All days are nights to see till I see thee,
And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me.
poem by William Shakespeare from Sonnets (1609)
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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Sonnet 43: When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see
When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see,
For all the day they view things unrespected;
But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee,
And darkly bright, are bright in dark directed.
Then thou, whose shadow shadows doth make bright,
How would thy shadow's form, form happy show
To the clear day with thy much clearer light,
When to unseeing eyes thy shade shines so!
How would, I say, mine eyes be blessèd made,
By looking on thee in the living day,
When in dead night thy fair imperfect shade
Through heavy sleep on sightless eyes doth stay!
All days are nights to see till I see thee,
And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me.
poem by William Shakespeare
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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O Little Town Of Bethlehem
(Philips BrooksLewis H. Redner)
O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see the lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by;
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee to-night.
For Christ is born of Mary,
And gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars, together
Proclaim the holy birth!
And praises sing to God the King,
And peace to men on earth.
How silently, how silently,
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of his heaven.
No ear may hear his coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him, still
The dear Christ enters in.
The hopes ans fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight
song performed by by Emmylou Harris
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Song.—Since thou wilt banish me
Since thou wilt banish me,
A long and last adieu!
This heart shall cherish thee,
Though ne'er those hopes renew
That once thy kindness bade me know,
And now thy falsehood turns to woe.
Since all the joy I've known,
And all the vows you made,
For ever now are flown,
As transient as a shade;
Oh! may thy fate as happy be
As that which seemed to shine on me.
Too fondly I relied,
Too easily believed;
Forgot how men have sigh'd,
And women have deceived—
I thought the world from falsehood free;
But, least of all, I doubted thee!
poem by Louisa Stuart Costello
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Thee, Thee, Only Thee
The dawning of morn, the daylight's sinking,
The night's long hours still find me thinking
Of thee, thee, only thee.
When friends are met, and goblets crown'd,
And smiles are near, that once enchanted,
Unreach'd by all that sunshine round,
My soul, like some dark spot, is haunted
By thee, thee, only thee.
Whatever in fame's high path could waken
My spirit once, is now forsaken
For thee, thee, only thee.
Like shores, by which some headlong bark
To the ocean hurries, resting never,
Life's scenes go by me, bright or dark,
I know not, heed not, hastening ever
To thee, thee, only thee.
I have not a joy but of thy bringing,
And pain itself seems sweet when springing
From thee, thee, only thee.
Like spells, that nought on earth can break,
Till lips, that know the charm, have spoken,
This heart, howe'er the world may wake
Its grief, its scorn, can but be broken
By thee, thee, only thee.
poem by Thomas Moore
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Holy Innocents
Sleep, little Baby, sleep,
The holy Angels love thee,
And guard thy bed, and keep
A blessed watch above thee.
No spirit can come near
Nor evil beast to harm thee:
Sleep, Sweet, devoid of fear
Where nothing need alarm thee.
The Love which doth not sleep,
The eternal arms around thee:
The shepherd of the sheep
In perfect love has found thee.
Sleep through the holy night,
Christ-kept from snare and sorrow,
Until thou wake to light
And love and warmth to-morrow.
poem by Christina Georgina Rossetti
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Awake, My Heart
Awake, my heart, to be loved, awake, awake!
The darkness silvers away, the morn doth break,
It leaps in the sky: unrisen lustres slake
The o'ertaken moon. Awake, O heart, awake!
She too that loveth awaketh and hopes for thee:
Her eyes already have sped the shades that flee,
Already they watch the path thy feet shall take:
Awake, O heart, to be loved, awake, awake!
And if thou tarry from her, - if this could be, -
She cometh herself, O heart, to be loved, to thee;
For thee would unashamed herself forsake:
Awake, to be loved, my heart, awake, awake!
Awake! The land is scattered with light, and see,
Uncanopied sleep is flying from field and tree;
And blossoming boughs of April in laughter shake:
Awake, O heart, to be loved, awake, awake!
Lo, all things wake and tarry and look for thee:
She looketh and saith, "O sun, now bring him to me.
Come, more adored, O adored, for his coming's sake,
And awake, my heart, to be loved, awake, awake!"
poem by Robert Seymour Bridges
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O Little Town Of Bethlehem
Written by l.h. redner
O little town of bethlehem how still we see thee lie
Above they deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by
Yet in they dark streets shineth the everlasting light
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight
O holy child of bethlehem descend to us, we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in be born in us today
We hear the christmas angels the great glad tidings tell
O come to us, abide with us, our lord immanuel
For christ is born of mary and gathered all above
While mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wondering love
O morning stars, together proclaim the holy birth
And praises sing to God the king and peace to men on earth
song performed by by Alabama
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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O Little Town Of Bethlehem
O little town of bethlehem
How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The ever lasting light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight
For christ is born of mary
And gathered all above
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wandering love
O morning stars, together
Proclaim the holy birth
And praises sing to God the king
And peace to men on earth
O holy child of bethlehem!
Descend to us, we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born in us today
We hear the christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell
O come to us, abide with us
Our lord immanuel!
And peace to men on earth
song performed by by Jewel
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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On Death
The pale, the cold, and the moony smile
Which the meteor beam of a starless night
Sheds on a lonely and sea-girt isle,
Ere the dawning of morn's undoubted light,
Is the flame of life so fickle and wan
That flits round our steps till their strength is gone.
O man! hold thee on in courage of soul
Through the stormy shades of thy wordly way,
And the billows of clouds that around thee roll
Shall sleep in the light of a wondrous day,
Where hell and heaven shall leave thee free
To the universe of destiny.
This world is the nurse of all we know,
This world is the mother of all we feel,
And the coming of death is a fearful blow
To a brain unencompass'd by nerves of steel:
When all that we know, or feel, or see,
Shall pass like an unreal mystery.
The secret things of the grave are there,
Where all but this frame must surely be,
Though the fine-wrought eye and the wondrous ear
No longer will live, to hear or to see
All that is great and all that is strange
In the boundless realm of unending change.
Who telleth a tale of unspeaking death?
Who lifteth the veil of what is to come?
Who painteth the shadows that are beneath
The wide-winding caves of the peopled tomb?
Or uniteth the hopes of what shall be
With the fears and the love for that which we see?
poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley
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O Little Town Of Bethlehem
(phillips brooks)
O little town of bethlehem
How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and reamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight
For christ was born of mary
And gathered all above
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondring love
O morning stars together
Proclaim the holy birth
And praises sing to God the king
And peace to men on earth
O holy child of bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born in us today
We hear the christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell
O come to us, abide in us
Our lord , precious lord, emmanuel!
Precious lord
song performed by by Diana Ross
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Song. To A Russian Air
WAS it for this I dearly loved thee?....
But since at length I know thy heart,
And learn no real passion moved thee,
Go, Henry, go; this hour we part.
But do not think, past love forgetting,
That I thy foe can ever be;
My blighted hopes howe'er regretting,
I still shall pray for bliss to thee.
I still, no wrongs from thee resenting,
Shall wish Love's choicest treasures thine;
Though till life's closing sigh lamenting
The power to bless thee was not mine .
poem by Amelia Opie
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Hymn
At morn- at noon- at twilight dim-
Maria! thou hast heard my hymn!
In joy and woe- in good and ill-
Mother of God, be with me still!
When the hours flew brightly by,
And not a cloud obscured the sky,
My soul, lest it should truant be,
Thy grace did guide to thine and thee;
Now, when storms of Fate o'ercast
Darkly my Present and my Past,
Let my Future radiant shine
With sweet hopes of thee and thine!
poem by Edgar Allan Poe
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Renouncement
I must not think of thee; and, tired yet strong,
I shun the love that lurks in all delight--
The love of thee--and in the blue heaven's height,
And in the dearest passage of a song.
Oh, just beyond the sweetest thoughts that throng
This breast, the thought of thee waits hidden yet bright;
But it must never, never come in sight;
I must stop short of thee the whole day long.
But when sleep comes to close each difficult day,
When night gives pause to the long watch I keep,
And all my bonds I needs must loose apart,
Must doff my will as raiment laid away,--
With the first dream that comes with the first sleep
I run, I run, I am gather'd to thy heart.
poem by Alice Meynell
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Love Not Hate Sestina
I'm so glad that I found you my love
You must have been sent to me from above
You have taught me to never hate
Our lives entwined, it must be fate.
You and yours, I'll always cherish
Even after I shall perish
Us not being one, is a thought I perish
The nights are better with you my love
Our days together I will always cherish
My favorite times, watching the stars above
Is this our destiny, or is it just fate
The nights without you, I will always hate
Devotion is so much better than hate
These feelings I have, shall never perish
Our lives together, such a great fate
Shall this diminish, never my love
Only if the moon falls from above
Shall I stop loving the woman that I cherish
To adore, to care, to want and to cherish
These feelings are here to deny that I hate
Anything that lives on the earth or above
My heart sinks, when I see one perish
Your influence is that strong, my love
And from now on you determine our fate
I'm not sure what has decided my fate
But I must accept that fact and cherish
The knowledge that I have been given your love
To keep within my heart and never hate
The others in your life, before they perish
Because they too, were sent from above
Sometimes my heart soars in the clouds above
Never denying this grand glorious fate
Hoping that it will stay and not ever perish
Of this my Lord, I pray you will cherish
Our relationship, and not allow hate
To interrupt this wondrous time, with my love
I beseech the Lord above, to help me to always cherish
Our time, for it taught me, my fate is to adore, and never hate
Even after I do perish, you'll be my very essence, my love
poem by J.B. LeBuert
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Bright and Beautiful Sea
Bright and beautiful sea! I love thee well—
In sunshine, oh bear me away;
On thy bosom I'll ride, when the salt waves swell
'Neath the light of the moon's pale ray.
Still softly, oh! softly cradle my head,
And my sleep shall be sweet with thee,
For the planets keep watch o'er the dreamer's bed
On the bright and beautiful sea.
Earth is not thine, with her selfish decrees,
With her toils and her fading flow'rs;—
But the blue sky above—the sun—and the breeze,
And the bright and the laughing hours.
Bright and beautiful sea! Oh! let me glide,
Forgetting the sorrows of earth—
For glad is the music of thy sparkling tide,
Thou sea, in thy billowy mirth!
Bright and beautiful sea! I love thee well—
In sunshine, oh bear me away;
On thy bosom I'll ride, when the salt waves swell
'Neath the light of the moon's pale ray.
poem by Edward Henry Bickersteth
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Betrothed
I DID not think to love her. As we go
We pluck a hedge-rose blushing in its sheath,
Fresh, and at hand; and not the less we know
That where rich garden blossoms take the breath
With eddying sweets and wear a thousand hues
We shall be fain to linger and to choose.
And who indeed
Would pass the garden by to choose the weed,
The little wayside rose we hold and lose?
Fair; and so loving. With the young surprise
Of children who still newly understand
Their right and wrong out of their mother's eyes,
She watches for my thought. Her trustful hand
Creeps into mine and rests. Ah, little one,
Hadst thou loved less I had not been undone;
My wayside rose.
I love thee, sweet: some hopes have found their close
Ere yet their aim; some joys ceased unbegun.
I had not thought to love her. She is fair;
But I had pictured eyes which, meeting mine,
Should kindle something in me that was there
But waited Her arousing; I divine
A love, that was to be, past hence unborn,
The sun o'erclouded ere it rose at morn.
I love thee, yes:
Let hopes be dead which thou couldst never guess.
Sweet, could I let thy blossom drop unworn?
poem by Augusta Davies Webster
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