Four Nights

O when I shut my eyes in spring

A choir of heaven's swans I see,

They sail on lakes of blue, and sing

Or shelter in a willow tree:

They sing of peace in heart and mind

Such as on earth you may not find.

When I lie down in summertime

I still can hear the scythes that smite

the ripened flowers in their prime,

And still can see the meadows white.

In summertime my rest is small,

If any rest I find at all.

In autumn, when my eyes I close

I see the yellow stars ablaze

Among the tangled winds that rose

At sunset in a circled maze;

Like armoured nights they ride the skies

And prick the closed lids of my eyes.

But when in wintertime I sleep

I nothing see, nor nothing hear;

The angels in my spirit keep

A silent watch, and being there

They cause my soul to lie as dead

A stream enchanted in her bed.