When I pass from earth away, <br />Palsied though I be and gray, <br />May my spirit keep so young <br />That my failing, faltering tongue <br />Frames that prayer so dear to me <br />Taught me at my mother's knee: <br /> <br />'Now I lay me down to sleep,' <br /> <br />(Passing to Eternal rest <br />On the loving parent breast) <br /> <br />'I pray the Lord my soul to keep;' <br /> <br />(From all danger safe and calm <br />In the hollow of His palm <br /> <br />'If I should die before I wake,' <br /> <br />(Drifting with a bated breath <br />Out of slumber into death,) <br /> <br />'I pray the Lord my soul to take.' <br /> <br />(From the body's claim set free <br />Sheltered in the Great to be.) <br />Simple prayer of trust and truth <br />Taught me in my early youth- <br />Let my soul its beauty keep <br />When I lay me down to sleep.<br /><br />Ella Wheeler Wilcox<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/now-i-lay-me/
