Nyx, parent goddess, source of sweet repose,
From whom both Gods and men arose
Bless’d Aphrodite, decked with starry light,
Bring sleep’s deep silence in ebony night
Dreams and soft case attend your dusky train,
Cancelling worry, you soothe overstrain.
Dissolving anxiety, bringer of Mirth,
With darkling coursers riding round the Earth.
Goddess of phantoms and of shadows that play,
Whose drowsy power divides all our days:
Queen of the darkness that rises in rings,
Surrounding us all in the black of your wings
With a necessity none can withstand,
You wrap the world with adamantine bands.
Be present, Goddess, to your suppliant’s prayer,
Desir’d by all, whom all revere,
Blessed, benevolent, calmer of fear,
Bring us your solace as twilight draws near.
The Orphic Hymns 