The dusky night rides down the sky,
And ushers in the morn;
The hounds all join in glorious cry,
The huntsman winds his horn,
And a-hunting we will go.

These lines are from Henry Fielding’s song “The Hunting Song,” written for performance in the early 18th-century London theatre. Fielding, better known as a novelist, also wrote popular stage entertainments that mixed dialogue with songs. The lyric evokes the aristocratic pastime of the hunt—hounds, horn, and the pre-dawn departure—using a brisk, communal refrain (“And a-hunting we will go”) suited to being sung by a group onstage. In Fielding’s theatrical milieu, such songs often functioned as lively interludes that set a scene, establish mood, and appeal to audiences through familiar rural-sport imagery and catchy repetition.

The stanza compresses a whole ritual into a few vivid cues: night “rides down” to make way for morning, the pack gives voice, and the huntsman’s horn signals coordinated action. The personification of night and the emphasis on sound (cry, horn) create momentum, making the hunt feel inevitable and exhilarating. On one level it celebrates camaraderie and tradition—“we” are bound together by shared purpose and rhythm. On another, it reflects how Fielding’s stage writing turns social customs into performance: the hunt becomes a kind of choreography, where nature’s transition (night to dawn) is mirrored by human ceremony and collective enthusiasm.