The sun has set and the evening has arrived. Then the twinkling stars welcome us to a pleasant night. And before the day is over, don’t forget to wish your dearest ones a heartfelt good night with the following 23 good night poems.
Good Night Poems
1. A Late Good Night
My lamp is out, my task is done,
And up the stair with lingering feet
I climb. The staircase clock strikes one.
Good night, my love! good night, my sweet!
My solitary room I gain.
A single star makes incomplete
The blackness of the window pane.
Good night, my love! good night, my sweet!
Dim and more dim its sparkle grows,
And ere my head the pillows meet,
My lids are fain themselves to close.
Good night, my love! good night, my sweet!
My lips no other words can say,
But still they murmur and repeat
To you, who slumber far away,
Good night, my love! good night, my sweet!
– Robert Fuller Murray
2. Say Good Night
We wish all good night
It is customary on our part
Great custom and tradition
With solid bond and relation
Even stranger may find it as honor
Even though gesture can be considered minor
Few words of belonging may spring surprise
It is full of oneness with promises
Whole of universe goes in dark
Almost under magic spell to start
The day has brought lot much happiness
Any individual may want night to spent with brightness
So “Good night” address means a lot
Day is desperately and vigorously fought
When you receive few words for sweet sleep
That makes you delighted with good mood to keep
Make it habit to say “good night”
That keeps person to feel right
It is parting gift before going to sleep
Your heart may beat with happy beep
– Hasmukh Amathalal
3. A Good Night
Close now thine eyes and rest secure;
Thy soul is safe enough, thy body sure;
He that loves thee, He that keeps
And guards thee, never slumbers, never sleeps.
The smiling conscience in a sleeping breast
Has only peace, has only rest;
The music and the mirth of kings
Are all but very discords, when she sings;
Then close thine eyes and rest secure;
No sleep so sweet as thine, no rest so sure.
– Francis Quarles
4. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on that sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
– Dylan Thomas
5. Good Night
Good night to all the world! there’s none,
Beneath the “over-going” sun,
To whom I feel or hate or spite,
And so to all a fair good night.
Would I could say good night to pain,
Good night to conscience and her train,
To cheerless poverty, and shame
That I am yet unknown to fame!
Would I could say good night to dreams
That haunt me with delusive gleams,
That through the sable future’s veil
Like meteors glimmer, but to fail.
Would I could say a long good night
To halting between wrong and right,
And, like a giant with new force,
Awake prepared to run my course!
But time o’er good and ill sweeps on,
And when few years have come and gone,
The past will be to me as naught,
Whether remembered or forgot.
Yet let me hope one faithful friend,
O’er my last couch shall tearful bend;
And, though no day for me was bright,
Shall bid me then a long good night.
– Robert Charles Sands
6. Good Night Little Star
Once upon a time a little twinkly star
Crept up to the sleeping moon,
He teased him and he tickled so
To wake him very soon.
But, do you think that he would stir
Oh no, he would not budge
For moon can never rise to shine
Until he gets the nudge.
The golden sun just when he knows
Is the one to give the moon a wink,
Now it is your turn to gleam
For my ruling power is fixed.
It’s your turn to reflect my light
While my sovereignty is afar,
Go glow, be Prince of night below
Shine forth the beauty that you are.
Good night to you,
good night my twinkly little star
– Soft Whispers from Derry’s Heart Poems
7. Good Night and Good Morning
A FAIR little girl sat under a tree
Sewing as long as her eyes could see;
Then smoothed her work and folded it right,
And said, “Dear work, good night, good night!”
Such a number of rooks came over her head,
Crying, “Caw, caw!” on their way to bed,
She said, as she watched their curious flight,
“Little black things, good night, good night!”
The horses neighed, and the oxen lowed,
The sheep’s “Bleat! bleat!” came over the road;
All seeming to say, with a quiet delight,
“Good little girl, good night, good night!”
She did not say to the sun, “Good night!”
Though she saw him there like a ball of light;
For she knew he had God’s time to keep
All over the world and never could sleep.
The tall pink foxglove bowed his head;
The violets courtesied, and went to bed;
And good little Lucy tied up her hair,
And said, on her knees, her favorite prayer.
And, while on her pillow she softly lay,
She knew nothing more till again it was day;
And all things said to the beautiful sun,
“Good morning, good morning! our work is begun.”
– Richard Monckton Milnes
8. Goodnight Little Houseplant
Goodnight little houseplant asleep on the sill
I’ll pull the shades so you don’t catch a chill
And tomorrow in the morning don’t be breaskfast for two
We’ll have ham and eggs for me and nitrogen for you
Goodnight little houseplant tucked in your clay pot
Maske sure you don’t catch Huntington’s Rot
Remember little houseplant stay away from them bees
I’ve heard they may carry a social disease
Goodnight little houseplant goodnight
Here’s your glass of water should I leave on the light
Tomorrow we’ll talk of the things that we did
I love you little house plant who needs women and kids
– Shel Silverstein
9. Good Night
The sun is hidden from our sight,
The birds are sleeping sound;
‘T is time to say to all, “Good night!”
And give a kiss all round.
Good night, my father, mother, dear!
Now kiss your little son;
Good night, my friends, both far and near!
Good night to every one.
Good night, ye merry, merry birds!
Sleep well till morning light;
Perhaps, if you could sing in words,
You would have said, “Good night!”
To all my pretty flowers, good night!
You blossom while I sleep;
And all the stars, that shine so bright,
With you their watches keep.
The moon is lighting up the skies,
The stars are sparkling there;
‘T is time to shut our weary eyes,
And say our evening prayer.
– Eliza Follen
10. Good night
Little baby, lay your head
On your pretty cradle-bed;
Shut your eye-peeps, now the day
And the light are gone away;
All the clothes are tucked in tight;
Little baby dear, good night.
Yes, my darling, well I know
How the bitter wind doth blow;
And the winter’s snow and rain
Patter on the window-pane:
But they cannot come in here,
To my little baby dear.
For the window shutteth fast,
Till the stormy night is past;
And the curtains warm are spread
Round about her cradle-bed:
So till morning shineth bright
Little baby dear, good night!
– Jane and Ann Taylor
11. Good-Night Song
Good-night, Sun! go to bed!
Take your crown from your shining head.
Now put on your gray night-cap,
And shut your eyes for a good long nap.
Good-night, Sky, bright and blue!
Not a wink of sleep for you.
You must watch us all the night,
With your twinkling eyes so bright.
Good-night, flowers! now shut up
Every swinging bell and cup.
Take your sleeping-draught of dew:
Pleasant dreams to all of you!
Good-night, birds, that sweetly sing!
Little head ‘neath little wing!
Every leaf upon the tree
Soft shall sing your lullaby.
Last to you, little child,
Sleep is coming soft and mild.
Now he shuts your blue eyes bright:
Little Baby dear, good-night!
– Laura E. Richards
12. The Clerk’s Good Night
Here is the keep of my fear:
The gray walls over the street
And the pavement safe between.
In the dusk, whom should I meet
But the gray faces and green
Eyes of my keepers of fear?
They stand and wait for the light
On the curb. I stand and wait,
Watching them under cover
Of crowding. They hesitate,
And now they all pass over
Around me into green light.
Good night, good night, sweet lover
Of the wife of my delight!
Good night, physician, who toss
My bones to the heap! Good night
Employer who gains my loss!
Good night who pass soever,
Pinning my elbows here
In the narrow keep of fear!
– Louis Kent
13. Good-Night!
Good-night! the tenderest sweetest word
That our sad restless world has heard
” Good-night! ” saith dew-kissed flower to flower,
When comes the peaceful sunset-hour:
” Soft rest be yours and slumbers light; ”
” Good-night! ” saith rose to rose — ” Good-night! ”
Good-night! and then the world swings round,
Till once again its brow is crowned;
Till, when the new glad day’s begun,
Its forehead lightens with the sun.
Then, when the sun’s broad wings take flight,
The tired world sleeps — Good-night! Good-night!
Good-night! O word of hope and peace!
Word uttered when vain longings cease;
Word uttered when wild dreams are done,
When stormy grief wanes with the sun.
Love’s voice serene from starriest height
To all the world breathes soft Good-night, Good-night!
– George Barlow
14. The Christian’s “Good-Night”
SLEEP ON , beloved, sleep, and take thy rest;
Lay down thy head upon thy Saviour’s breast;
We love thee well, but Jesus loves thee best —
Good-night! Good-night! Good-night!
Calm is thy slumber as an infant’s sleep,
But thou shalt wake no more to toil and weep;
Thine is a perfect rest, secure and deep —
Good-night! Good-night! Good-night!
Until the shadows from this earth are cast;
Until He gathers in His sheaves at last;
Until the twilight gloom be overpast —
Good-night! Good-night! Good-night!
Until the Easter glory lights the skies;
Until the dead in Jesus shall arise,
And He shall come, but not in lowly guise —
Good-night! Good-night! Good-night!
Until made beautiful by Love Divine,
Thou, in the likeness of thy Lord shalt shine,
And He shall bring that golden crown of thine —
Good-night! Good-night! Good-night!
Only ” Good-night, ” beloved — not ” Farewell! ”
A little while, and all His saints shall dwell
In hallowed union, indivisible —
Good-night! Good-night! Good-night!
Until we meet again before His throne,
Clothed in the spotless robe He gives His own;
Until we know even as we are known —
Good-night! Good-night! Good-night!
– Sarah Doudney
15. At Parting
FAREWELL — shall it be farewell?
Farewell, said lightly when the careless part;
Farewell, said coldly by the estranged in heart,
And serving but to tell
The empty dearth of cold Convention’s shell —
Nay, not farewell.
Good-bye — shall it be good-bye?
Good-bye, low whispered amidst blinding tears;
Good-bye, presaging sad, long-parted years,
Telling, with sob and sigh,
Of change or thwarted plan or broken tie —
Nay, not good-bye!
Good-night — shall it be good-night?
Good-night, which means to-morrow we may meet;
Good-night! I fain my foolish heart must cheat,
Though morning’s golden light
Shine on a lone ship leagues beyond thy sight,
Yet still good-night.
Yea, best beloved, good-night!
Good Night, best Night, with all thy fairest dreams,
Good Night, best Night, with all thy starriest beams,
Watch by her pillow white,
And tell her all my love, thou gentlest Night!
Good-night, good-night!
– Annie Chambers Ketchum
16. To the Glowing Moon
I have given my whispers to the wind
To wish you a good night with love.
I miss the beginning of today
When our lips talked with one another.
To the glowing moon
I see a reflection of your beauty
A soft teary eyes hosts your image
And wish my hands would touch you.
To the glowing moon
I say it how my heart prays for it
For your arms to envelope into mine.
For our hearts to beat and lie side by side.
– Rudolph N. Adidi
17. Good Night
The sun has sunk behind the hills,
The shadows o’er the landscape creep;
A drowsy sound the woodland fills,
And nature folds her arms to sleep:
Good night—good night.
The chattering jay has ceased his din—
The noisy robin sings no more—
The crow, his mountain haunt within,
Dreams ‘mid the forest’s surly roar:
Good night—good night.
The sunlit cloud floats dim and pale;
The dew is falling soft and still;
The mist hangs trembling o’er the vale,
And silence broods o’er yonder mill:
Goodnight—good night.
The rose, so ruddy in the light,
Bends on its stem all rayless now,
And by its side the lily white
A sister shadow, seems to bow:
Good night—good night.
The bat may wheel on silent wing—
The fox his guilty vigils keep—
The boding owl his dirges sing;
But love and innocence will sleep:
Good night—good night!
– Samuel Griswold Goodrich
18. A Valedictory
Good night! the spirits of the blest and good
From these dear wails go with you and abide;
In hours of sorrow, hours of solitude,
Or when the hosts of melancholy brood,
And cloud your mind, may angel spirits glide
From the White T HRONE and give you great delight;
Dear friends, good night!
Good night! good night! and joy be with you all;
May sickness never blight, nor poverty;
May slanderous breath your spirits ne’er appall;
May no untoward accident befall,
But all things prosperous and happy be;
May morning suns rise on you fresh and bright;
Dear friends, good night!
Good night! in dreams may faithful Martha come
To tell of her beloved, high in Heaven;
And Ruth , the gleaner, from her harvest home,
And Adah , maid immortal, from her tomb,
Esther and true Electa , spirits bright,
And say, good night!
Good night! and when the shadows of the grave
Close in around you, — when the laboring breath
Draws heavily, and unto Him who gave,
You yield the spirit, be H E strong to save,
Who is our G UIDE and S AVIOUR unto death!
Then may dear friends and heavenly hopes unite
To say, good night!
– Robert Morris
19. Good Night to the Season
Good-night to the Season! ’tis over!
Gay dwellings no longer are gay;
The courtier, the gambler, the lover,
Are scatter’d like swallows away:
There’s nobody left to invite one,
Except my good uncle and spouse;
My mistress is bathing at Brighton,
My patron is sailing at Cowes:
For want of a better employment,
Till Ponto and Don can get out,
I’ll cultivate rural enjoyment,
And angle immensely for trout.
Good-night to the Season!–the lobbies,
Their changes, and rumours of change,
Which startled the rustic Sir Bobbies,
And made all the Bishops look strange:
The breaches, and battles, and blunders,
Perform’d by the Commons and Peers;
The Marquis’s eloquent thunders,
The Baronet’s eloquent ears:
Denouncings of Papists and treasons,
Of foreign dominion and oats;
Misrepresentations of reasons,
And misunderstandings of notes.
Good-night to the Season!–the buildings
Enough to make Inigo sick;
The paintings, and plasterings, and gildings
Of stucco, and marble, and brick;
The orders deliciously blended,
From love of effect, into one;
The club-houses only intended,
The palaces only begun;
The hell where the fiend, in his glory,
Sits staring at putty and stones,
And scrambles from story to story,
To rattle at midnight his bones.
Good-night to the Season!– the dances,
The fillings of hot little rooms,
The glancings of rapturous glances,
The fancyings of fancy costumes;
The pleasures which Fashion makes duties,
The praisings of fiddles and flutes,
The luxury of looking at beauties,
The tedium of talking to mutes;
The female diplomatists, planners
Of matches for Laura and Jane,
The ice of her Ladyship’s manners,
The ice of his Lordship’s champagne.
Good-night to the Season!–the rages
Led off by the chiefs of the throng,
The Lady Matilda’s new pages,
The Lady Eliza’s new song;
Miss Fennel’s macaw, which at Boodle’s
Is held to have something to say;
Mrs. Splenetic’s musical poodles,
Which bark “Batti Batti’ all day;
The pony Sir Araby sported,
As hot and as black as a coal,
And the Lion his mother imported,
In bearskins and grease, from the Pole.
Good-night to the Season!–the Toso,
So very majestic and tall;
Miss Ayton, whose singing was so-so,
And Pasta, divinest of all;
The labour in vain of the Ballet,
So sadly deficient in stars;
The foreigners thronging the Alley,
Exhaling the breath of cigars;
The “loge’ where some heiress, how killing,
Environ’d with Exquisites sits,
The lovely one out of her drilling,
The silly ones out of their wits.
Good-night to the Season!–the splendour
That beam’d in the Spanish Bazaar;
Where I purchased–my heart was to tender–
A card-case,–a pasteboard guitar,–
A bottle of perfume,–a girdle,–
A lithograph’d Riego full-grown,
Whom Bigotry drew on a hurdle
That artists might draw him on stone,–
A small panorama of Seville,–
A trap for demolishing flies,–
A caricature of the Devil,–
And a look from Miss Sheridan’s eyes.
Good-night to the Season!–the flowers
Of the grand horticultural fête,
When boudoirs were quitted for bowers,
And the fashion was not to be late;
When all who had money and leisure
Grew rural o’er ices and wines,
All pleasantly toiling for pleasure,
All hungrily pining for pines,
And making of beautiful speeches,
And marring of beautiful shows,
And feeding on delicate peaches,
And treading on delicate toes.
Good-night to the Season!–another
Will come with its trifles and toys,
And hurry away, like its brother,
In sunshine, and odour, and noise,
Will it come with a rose or a briar?
Will it come with a blessing or curse?
Will its bonnets be lower or higher?
Will its morals be better or worse?
Will it find me grown thinner or fatter,
Or fonder of wrong or of right,
Or married,–or buried?–no matter,
Good-night to the Season, Good-night!
– Winthrop Mackworth Praed
20. Good-Night
Good-night? ah! no; the hour is ill
Which severs those it should unite;
Let us remain together still,
Then it will be good night.
How can I call the lone night good,
Though thy sweet wishes wing its flight?
Be it not said, thought, understood —
Then it will be — good night.
To hearts which near each other move
From evening close to morning light,
The night is good; because, my love,
They never say good-night.
– Percy Bysshe Shelley
21. Serenade
Good night, my heart.
Thou in the bosom of the delicate down perchance dost sink thy limbs in delicious forgetfulness; and I below here temper my heart in tears, alas, and send my soul up to thee.
Good night, my heart.
Good night, my heart.
Yes, thou dost sleep, but not thy worshipper, or if the quivered god grants truce to my weary eyes, my bitter fate doth haunt me in a thousand shapes.
Good night, my heart.
Good night, my heart.
Yet for a little space at least thou dost grant comfort to my o’er-laboured breast, and I am never weary of sighing for thee, nor do I turn aside one jot from my fidelity.
Good night, my heart.
Good night, my heart.
Sleep then, oh sleep, and may Love sleep with thee, O my soul’s sweet desire, and may no shadow or horror of phantom night disturb thy rest.
Farewell, I go.
Good night, my heart.
– Richard Aldington
22. The Village Good Night
The sun hath laid him down to rest,
All wrapp’d in robes of gold;
The little bird hath sought his nest,
The bleating sheep his fold;—
Kine lowing
While going
Along the homeward trail,
Where merrily
And cheerily
The milkmaid fills her pail.
Now from afar the evening star
Peers out with trembling light,
And wild and shrill the whippoorwill
Repeats his loud “Good night!”
“Good night!”
Our evening hours have flown along,
And glided swift away,
With music’s charm, and cheerful song,
And converse glad and gay.
Thus lightly
And brightly
Our tide of time has rolled;
While laughter
Rang after
Each merry tale well told.
But in the sky the Moon rides high,
And, from the belfry’s height,
The midnight chime now tolls the time
When we must bid “Good night.”
“Good night!”
May no sad thought, nor carking care,
Invade your tranquil rest;
Nor nightmare grim, nor goblin, dare
Tramp o’er your slumbering breast.
Profoundly
And soundly
May Peace your eyelids close;
Safe keeping,
While sleeping,
Your heart from waking woes.
May Angels stand, a guardian band,
Around you calm and bright;
While near you move, in dreams of love,
Sweet forms that breathe “Good night!”
– John Henry, Jr. Hopkins
23. Good Night
Good night, good night; for the dews are sleeping,
And the moon in the pale blue skies is steeping
Her radiant locks; and the birds are at rest,
And the cushat sits brooding on her nest;
And the shade on the woods is a deeper green;
And the dark gray hills are more faintly seen;
And the flowers their bells of beauty close,
And wearied nature seeks repose.
— There is rest for all, but none for thee,
For thy heart is spell-bound, and thou must flee
From the influence of this twilight hour,
For it hath a strange bewitching power.
‘Twill breathe of hopes which will never be true;
‘Twill bring thine infancy fresh to thy view;
And with its sweet and shadowy light,
Retouch each vision to thy sight.
And, last of all, ’twill breathe of love,
And thou wilt start — but cannot remove
The heavy weight of the lingering sigh,
And the dream of the vanish’d extasy.
‘Twill fall on thy heart like sun on flowers,
Like spring to the birds among the bowers;
And while thou art hailing the vision bright,
Thou shalt waken and find — the chill of night.
– “A Family Circle” fl. 1820