The Vigil Poem by John Bannister Tabb

'Stay for me here'-Ah, well doth Love obey
Thy mandate: for the stars have burnt away
The web of darkness, & disrobe the day
In twilight chill.


'Stay for me here'-I cannot choose but wait.
The day is spent: & at the ponderous gate
Of sunset, still I linger desolate.-
Was this thy will?


'Stay for me here'-An echo in the gloom
Of midnight warns me of approaching doom.
As at the temple, so before the tomb,
I wait thee still.