Evening Hymn

The bird within its nest
Has sung its evening hymn,
And I must go to quiet rest,
As the bright west grows dim.

I see the twinkling star,
That, when the sun has gone,
Is shining out the first afar,
To tell us day is done.

If on this day I’ve been
A selfish, naughty child,
May God forgive the wrong I’ve done,
And make me kind and mild.

May he still bless and keep
My father, mother dear;
And may the eye that cannot sleep
Watch o’er our pillows here,

And guard us from all ill,
Through this long, silent night,
And bring us, by His holy will,
To see the morning light.