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Anonymous

So vast, our Goddess Night, she rises,

Star-eyes gazing everywhere;

All her finery of dress displayed.

Space high and low she fills, Eternal Night,

Her beauty driving out the dark.

Close on the heels of sister Day

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She treads. Let darkness run…

As you draw near, we turn for home

Like birds that wing to nest.

Life everywhere retreats: man, beast

And bird. Even the soaring hawk

Returns to seek out rest.

Night, shield us from the wolf and thief.

Throughout your hours Let there be calm.

Pitch dark has brought a shroud for me.

Dawn, drive it, like my debts, away.

Child of Day, to you, as to a calf,

My hymn is offered. Receive it now

As paean to a conqueror.


— “Hymn to Night,” from The Vedas to the Bhagavad-Gita (Rig Veda), Edwin Gerow and Peter Dent, translators.

The Vedas are the canonical and semicanonical works of ancient Indian religious literature. Composed in Sanskrit, the texts represent the oldest scriptures of Hindu belief and practice. There are four canonical Samhitas — or Vedas proper — and three of them, including the Rig Veda, of which “The Hymn to Night” is part, are to be recited during the yajna, or sacrifice in the ancient Vedic forms. Composed sometime between 1700 and 1100 BC, the Rig Veda includes accounts of the origins of the universe and songs of praise to the gods.

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So vast, our Goddess Night, she rises,

Star-eyes gazing everywhere;

All her finery of dress displayed.

Space high and low she fills, Eternal Night,

Her beauty driving out the dark.

Close on the heels of sister Day

Sponsored
Sponsored

She treads. Let darkness run…

As you draw near, we turn for home

Like birds that wing to nest.

Life everywhere retreats: man, beast

And bird. Even the soaring hawk

Returns to seek out rest.

Night, shield us from the wolf and thief.

Throughout your hours Let there be calm.

Pitch dark has brought a shroud for me.

Dawn, drive it, like my debts, away.

Child of Day, to you, as to a calf,

My hymn is offered. Receive it now

As paean to a conqueror.


— “Hymn to Night,” from The Vedas to the Bhagavad-Gita (Rig Veda), Edwin Gerow and Peter Dent, translators.

The Vedas are the canonical and semicanonical works of ancient Indian religious literature. Composed in Sanskrit, the texts represent the oldest scriptures of Hindu belief and practice. There are four canonical Samhitas — or Vedas proper — and three of them, including the Rig Veda, of which “The Hymn to Night” is part, are to be recited during the yajna, or sacrifice in the ancient Vedic forms. Composed sometime between 1700 and 1100 BC, the Rig Veda includes accounts of the origins of the universe and songs of praise to the gods.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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