On the wide lap of the sky

Descends the Night:

Starless and dark,

A veritable history of failure.

The proud mansion of the rich

And the sorrow-stricken shed of the poor:

All is enveloped in darkness.

Darkness alone looks on the face of the earth.

The Eagle of Night comes–

The flapping of its strong wings

Comes from afar.

Night comes–

She comes over you and me,

And over the wide throbbing breast of the city.

Darkness brings with it

The long-looked-for end of discord;

The heart of the earth beats very slowly;

Only the secret breath

Of the disembodied animals is heard.

On your eye-lids, too, my darling,

Descends the soft darkness of the Night.

Wipe away from your mangled heart

The burning sensation of pain:

Sleep, sleep sweetly, my girl.

Weave, weave thickly,

In your soft and silken hair,

The thin fibres of rich darkness.

Let me sit up alone,

With an anxious craving in the heart

For the light of the unseen Sun.