Lyr Add: Sleep Sweet (Ellen M. Huntington Gates)

Subject: Lyr Add: Sleep Sweet (Ellen M. Huntington Gates)
From: keberoxu
Date: 19 Feb 23 - 07:16 PM

My chorus is singing a musical setting of a version of this poem.
Ellen M. Huntington Gates wrote Protestant hymn lyrics;
this however appears in her collections of poetry,
and is often quoted (and mis-quoted).


SLEEP SWEET

Sleep sweet within this quiet room,
O thou! whoe'er thou art;
And let no mournful yesterday
Disturb thy peaceful heart.

Nor let tomorrow scare thy rest,
With dreams of coming ill:
Thy Maker is thy changeless Friend,
His love surrounds thee still.

Forget thyself and all the world;
Put out each feverish light;
The stars are watching overhead;
Sleep sweet, -- good night! good night!


-- page 28, The Treasures of Kurium, New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1895.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Sleep Sweet (Ellen M. Huntington Gates)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 Feb 23 - 07:30 PM

Hynary.org says Ellen M.H. Gates (1835-1920) was quite a prolific author of hymns.

Subject: Lyr Add: "A Gaelic Good Night"
From: keberoxu
Date: 20 Feb 23 - 10:02 AM

By the time the poem in question was set to music and
the score published for mixed chorus a cappella,
the name of the author had been dropped,
the lyrics had some word changes,
and the piece was being sold as "Gaelic" and "Irish".


Here's the body of the text of this setting.

Sleep sweet within this room
Whoe'er thou art,
And let not dreams of yesterday
Disturb thy heart.

Nor let tomorrow,
With its fear of coming ill,
Thy Maker is thy changeless Friend,
His love surrounds thee still.

The stars are watching overhead.
Put out each earthborne light.
Sleep sweet, good night. Good night.


Title:   A Gaelic Good Night
subtitle: An Irish Room Blessing
composer: James Gossler
copyright 2015, National Music Publishers