Night - A poem by Mrs. Ella Goodwin

Night.

When the calm night comes and all is still,
And the breezes go whispering over the hill,
And the plaintive song of the whippoor-will
Causes my heart to sob and thrill,
Then I think of the toil and pain of life,
Its heavy burdens, its endless strife,
Its thorny paths with dangers rife,
Of beautiful hopes that were born but to blight,
Such thoughts fill my heart in the silent night.

When my night shall come and I lie at rest,
No more to arise at duty's behest,
My still hands folded across my breast,
The heavy sods over my cold form prest,
Above my bed will the night dews weep,
And the deathless stars will their vigils keep,
And sweetly, so sweetly, I shall sleep;
With eyes that are tearless and lips that are dumb;
With a heart that is painless^__when the night shall
come.

^__Mrs. Ella Goodwin, Ludell.

Poets and Poetry of Kansas
Edited by Thomas W. Herringshaw
(Chicago: American Publishers' Association. 1894)
Page 147