“That hour, once sacred to God’s presence, still
Keeps itself calmer from the touch of ill,
The holiest hour of earth. Then toil doth cease,
Then from the yoke, the oxen find release—
Then man rests, pausing from his many cares,
And the world teems with children’s sunset prayers!
Then innocent things seek out their natural rest,
The babe sinks slumbering on its mother’s breast,
The birds beneath their leafy covering creep,
Yea, even the flowers fold up their buds in sleep;