Henry Ellison (1811-1880). Selected Sonnets. VI. London after Midnight. Alfred H. Miles, ed. 1907. The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century

Alfred H. Miles, ed. The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907.

Selected Sonnets.
VI. London after Midnight

By Henry Ellison (1811–1880)


(From the “Poetry of Real Life”) SILENCE broods o’er the mighty Babylon,
And Darkness, his twin-brother, with him keeps
His solemn watch; the wearièd city sleeps,
And Solitude—strange contrast! muses on
The fate of man, there, whence the crowd anon	5
Will scare her with life’s tumult! the great deeps
Of human thought are stirless, yet there creeps,
As ’twere, a far-off hum, scarce heard, then gone,
On the still air: ’tis the heart doth move
And beat at intervals, soon, from its sleep,	10
To start refreshed. O Thou Who rul’st above,
Be with it in its dreams, and let it keep,
Awake, the spirit of pure peace and love,
Which Thou breath’st thro’ it now, so still and deep!