The hour of eight
A favorite translation of it begins : -- `` Hark ye , neighbors , and hear me tell _ Eight _ now strikes the loud church bell . '' An almost literal translation thus reproduces the grand themes which were made to remind the old guardians of the night in their ghostly vigils : -- Hark , while I sing ! our village clock The hour of eight , good sirs , has struck . Eight souls alone from death were kept , When God the earth with deluge swept : Unless the Lord to guard us deign , Man wakes and watches all in vain . Lord ! through thine all-prevailing might , Do thou vouchsafe us a good night !