Nox, one of the most ancient deities among the heathens, was the daughter
of Chaos. From her union with her brother Erebus, she gave birth to day and
light: she is called by some of the poets, the mother of all things, of
gods no less than of men, and was worshipped with great solemnity by the
ancients, who erected to her a famous statue in Diana's temple at Ephesus.
The cock was offered to her, as the bird which proclaims the coming of the
day. She is drawn mounted on a chariot, and covered with a veil bespangled
with stars, and the constellations preceded her as her messengers.
Sometimes she is seen holding two children under her arms, one of which is
dark like night, and the other light like day.
"Night, when like perfumes that have slept
All day within the wild flower's heart,
Steal out the thoughts the soul has kept
In silence and apart:
And voices we have pined to hear,
Through many a long and lonely day,
Come back upon the dreaming ear,
From grave lands far away,
And gleams look forth of spirit eyes
Like stars along the darkening skies!"