In silence, loneliness, and night,

The dreary desert lies:

And thro’ the vast and cloud-less height,

The stars with sparks of crystal light,

Have gemmed the dusky skies.

 

No sound upon the stillness swells,

Save where the little band

Of midnight travellers break the spells,

With the low-tinkling camel-bells,

Along the desert sand.

 

In chastened splendour, through the haze

Of shining worlds afar,

A holy guide in gloomy ways

Before them moves with mystic rays,

The bright, majestic star.

 

And all the glories of the night,

That crowd the arching skies,

Are paled before the wondrous light

That leads the travellers’ steps aright

To where the Saviour lies.

 

Bright star, when deepening shades combine,

O lead us lest we stray!

O may the light of love divine,

In beams of beauty ever shine

Upon the desert way!