In the dead of the night. Sung by Mrs. Jordan in The wedding day — Wedding day.

In the Dead of the Night.

Sung by Mrs. Jordan in the Wedding Day.

(Sold by J. EVANS, No. 41, Long-lane.)

IN the dead of the night, when with labor oppress'd

All mortals enjoy the sweet blessing of rest,

A boy knock'd at my door, I awoke with the noise,

Who is it, I said, who is it that my rest thus destroys

He answered so softly, so gently, so mild,

I am a poor little unfortunate child;

Its a cold rainy night, I am wet to the skin,

And I have lost my way, so pray let me in.

In compassion I rose, and striking a light,

I open'd the door, when a boy stood in sight

He had wings on his shoulders, the rain from them drip'd,

And with bow and with arrows the boy was equip'd

I stir'd up my fire, set him down by my side,

And with a warm napkin the wet from him dry'd

I chal'd him all o'er, to keep out the cold air,

And I wrung with my hands the wet from his hair.

No sooner from wet and from cold he found ease,

Then he took up the bow and said, Ma'am, if you please,

would fain, with your leave, by experiment know,

the rain has not damag'd the strings of my bow.

Then straight from his quiver an arrow he drew.

Which he aim'd at my heart, and twang went the yew.

My bow is undamag'd, said he, and my dart,

And you will find trouble in bearing the smart.

Information about this book

Title statement

In the dead of the night. Sung by Mrs. Jordan in The wedding day

Wedding day.

Inchbald, Mrs., 1753-1821.

Publication

Distributor

University of Oxford Text Archive
Oxford University Computing Services
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OX2 6NN
ota@oucs.ox.ac.uk

ID [ota]

http://ota.ox.ac.uk/id/5472

ID [isbn10]

1106024710

ID [isbn13]

9781106024718

ID [TCP]

K126403.000

ID [BIBNO]

CW3315800305

ID [ECLL]

1028601000

Availability

Distributed by the University of Oxford under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Source

— In the dead of the night. Sung by Mrs. Jordan in The wedding day, Wedding day., Inchbald, Mrs., 1753-1821.. 1 sheet ([1] p.) ; 1/8⁰. [London] :: Sold by J. Evans, no. 41, Long-lane,. [1791 - 1803]. [Anonymous. By Elizabeth Inchbald, whose play, 'The wedding day', was first staged at Drury Lane in November 1794.] [A slip-song - "In the dead of the night, when with labor oppress'd".] [The imprint, enclosed in brackets, comes immediately after the title. J. Evans at this address 1791-1803 (Maxted & ESTC).] [Mrs. Jordan = Dorothy Jordan.] [Reproduction of original from the Bodleian Library (Oxford).] [English Short Title Catalog, ESTCT196353.] [Electronic data. Farmington Hills, Mich. : Thomson Gale, 2003. Page image (PNG). Digitized image of the microfilm version produced in Woodbridge, CT by Research Publications, 1982-2002 (later known as Primary Source Microfilm, an imprint of the Gale Group).]

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