Welcome black night

Song Meaning

This poem invokes "black night" as a facilitator for love's consummation, framing it as a necessary accomplice to "Hymen," the god of marriage. The narrator pleads with the night to "help" the "faire day" – a curious inversion – and to allow "Loves due debt" to be paid. This debt is described as "chaste delight," suggesting a sacred or pure pleasure that must be fulfilled within the embrace of darkness. The repetition of the plea underscores the urgency and the perceived necessity of night's intervention for this specific act of love. The central tension lies in the relationship between night, day, and the act of love. While day is typically associated with visibility and openness, here night is welcomed as the stage for a private, perhaps even clandestine, union. The lyrics suggest that without night's presence, "Hymen" himself would "forfeit his Dietie," implying that the sanctity of marriage and its associated pleasures are dependent on the cover of darkness. This elevates night from mere absence of light to an active participant in the divine ordinance of love. The craft hinges on personification and a unique framing of "Hymen." Hymen is addressed as a "treasure more divine," a deity whose likeness is unmatched, particularly because he is "freest from mortalitie." The poem then shifts to directly address a "happy paire," urging them to "stay" because Hymen "comes not, love to beguile." This suggests that Hymen's presence is not about trickery but about blessing and legitimizing the "sports" and "baites" of love, which are described as enhancing "Loves attained blisse" through "longing hope." The effectiveness of these lyrics stems from their archaic language and the surprising elevation of night and the sacredness of marital consummation. The poem doesn't just describe love; it frames it within a divine, almost ritualistic context where the natural order of day and night is reordered to serve the "chaste delight" of a union blessed by Hymen. The narrator's earnest pleas create a sense of profound importance around an act that is both deeply personal and cosmically sanctioned by the invoked deities of deities and night.