To Night Poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley

To Night

Rating: 2.9


Swiftly walk o'er the western wave,
Spirit of Night!
Out of the misty eastern cave,
Where, all the long and lone daylight,
Thou wovest dreams of joy and fear,
Which make thee terrible and dear--
Swift be thy flight!

Wrap thy form in a mantle gray,
Star-inwrought!
Blind with thine hair the eyes of day;
Kiss her until she be wearied out,
Then wander o'er city, and sea, and land,
Touching all with thine opiate wand--
Come, long-sought!

When I arose and saw the dawn,
I sighed for thee;
When light rode high, and the dew was gone,
And noon lay heavy on flower and tree,
And the weary day turned to his rest,
Lingering like an unloved guest,
I sighed for thee.

Thy brother Death came, and cried,
Wouldst thou me?
Thy sweet child Sleep, the filmy-eyed,
Murmured like a noontide bee,
Shall I nestle near thy side?
Wouldst thou me?--And I replied,
No, not thee!

Death will come when thou art dead,
Soon, too soon--
Sleep will come when thou art fled;
Of neither would I ask the boon
I ask of thee, beloved Night--
Swift be thine approaching flight,
Come soon, soon!

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Edward Kofi Louis 04 August 2016

Spirit of Night! Nice piece of work.

3 0 Reply
Amar Agarwala 04 August 2016

A beautiful work by Shelley... interwoven with life!

1 0 Reply
Susan Williams 04 August 2016

When I arose and saw the dawn, I sighed for thee; When light rode high, and the dew was gone, And noon lay heavy on flower and tree, And the weary day turned to his rest, Lingering like an unloved guest, I sighed for thee.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Percy Shelley could write extraordinarily beautiful verses that just rest into your heart and soul like a prayer or a lullaby.

4 0 Reply
Naomi Louise Short 04 August 2016

A very good articulated piece of poetry! Well done keep on writing my friend ✏📝💭📒

1 0 Reply
Ramesh T A 04 August 2016

Weary of the day's unwelcome state and not bothered about death so soon, Shelley calls for the night to accompany him and invites night spirit to come soon! Yet another poem of the romantic hero is wonderful to read here!

2 0 Reply
Chukwuebuka Adebayo 04 August 2016

Mystery of Night and death still remains same

2 0 Reply
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