CURFEW

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I.

Solemnly, mournfully,
        Dealing its dole,
The Curfew Bell
        Is beginning its toll.

Cover the embers,
        And put out the light;
Toil comes with the morning,
        And rest with the night.

Dark grow the windows,
        And quenched is the fire;
Sound faded into silence, -
        All footsteps retire.

No voice in the chambers,
        No sound in the hall!
Sleep and oblivion
        Reign over all!  

II.

The book is completed,
        And closed like the day;
And the hand that has written it
        Lays it away.

Dim grow its fancies,
        Forgotten they lie;
Like coals in the ashes,
        They darken and die.

Song sinks into silence,
        The story is told,
The windows are darkened,
        The hearthstone is cold.

Darker and darker
        The black shadows fall;
Sleep and oblivion
        Reign over all!