Time & Brevity
Hold Back Thy Hours, Dark Night
From Lyrics from the Dramatists of the Elizabethan Age, ed. A. H. Bullen (London: Nimmo, 1889)
Hold back thy hours, dark Night, till we have done;
The Day will come too soon;
Young maids will curse thee, if thou steal'st away
And leav'st their losses open to the day:
Stay, stay, and hide
The blushes of the bride.
Stay, gentle Night, and with thy darkness cover
The kisses of her lover;
Stay, and confound her tears and her shrill cryings,
Her weak denials, vows, and often-dyings;
Stay, and hide all:
But help not, though she call.
Codex Note
From The Maid's Tragedy. Bullen's Introduction ascribes the bridal songs of this play to Beaumont.
Cite this poem
MLA
Beaumont, Francis. “Hold Back Thy Hours, Dark Night.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/beaumont/7/.
Chicago
Beaumont, Francis. “Hold Back Thy Hours, Dark Night.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/beaumont/7/.
Read this poem with the Codex →