Orphic Hymns

Thee I invoke, blest pow'r of dreams [Oneiroi] divine, angel of future fates, swift wings are thine:

Great source of oracles to human kind, when stealing soft, and whisp'ring to the mind,

Thro' sleep's sweet silence and the gloom of night, thy pow'r awakes th' intellectual fight;

To silent souls the will of heav'n relates, and silently reveals their future fates.

For ever friendly to the upright mind sacred and pure, to holy rites inclin'd;

For these with pleasing hope thy dreams inspire, bliss to anticipate, which all desire.

Thy visions manifest of fate disclose, what methods best may mitigate our woes;

Reveal what rites the Gods immortal please, and what the means their anger to appease:

For ever tranquil is the good man's end, whose life, thy dreams admonish and defend.

But from the wicked turn'd averse to bless, thy form unseen, the angel of distress;

No means to cheek approaching ill they find, pensive with fears, and to the future blind.

Come, blessed pow'r, the signatures reveal which heav'n's decrees mysteriously conceal,

Signs only present to the worthy mind, nor omens ill disclose of monst'rous kind.