In the still of the night

Visit Michelle at the friendly Nature Notes Thursday , where Michelle may be on hiatus but we all gather to learn and share.

Running needs a little more discipline these days as my mornings get shorter and my evenings get shorter. I don't run unless there's some light in the sky, so lunchtime is beginning to look better and better. Here's my observation: it's dark more.

To Night by Arthur Symons

I have loved wind and light,
And the bright sea,
But, holy and most secret Night,
Not as I love and have loved thee.

God, like all highest things,
Hides light in shade,
And in the night his visitings
To sleep and dreams are clearliest made.

Love, that knows all things well,
Loves the night best;
Joys whereof daylight dares not tell
Are his, and the diviner rest.

And Life, whom day shows plain
Its prison-bars,
Feels the close wall and the hard chain
Fade when the darkness brings the stars.

Night by Alcman
(written about 650 BC)
Over the drowsy earth still night prevails;
Calm sleep the mountain tops and shady vales
The rugged cliffs and hollow glens,
The cattle on the hill. Deep in the sea
The countless finny race and monster brood
Tranquil repose. Even the busy bee
Forgets her daily toil. The silent wood,
No more with noisy hum of insects rings;
And all the feathered tribes, by gentle sleep subdued,
Roost in the glade and hang their drooping wings.