‘To the Night’ Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)
Swiftly walk over 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, Address to night
Which make thee terrible and dear,— Speaker’s assertion
Swift be thy flight!
Day/Dawn
Wrap thy form in a mantle gray, Death/Sleep rejected
Star-inwrought!
Blind with thine hair the eyes of Day; Punctuation
Kiss her until she be wearied out, Sound Devices
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 sigh’d for thee;
When light rode high, and the dew was gone,
And noon lay heavy on flower and tree,
And the weary Day turn’d to his rest,
Lingering like an unloved guest,
I sigh’d for thee.
Thy brother Death came, and cried,
Wouldst thou me?
Thy sweet child Sleep, the filmy-eyed,
Murmur’d 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, belovèd Night—
Swift be thine approaching flight,
Come soon, soon!
, Biographical information:
• Romantic Poetry movement
→ Intense emotions and individual thinking reflected in art.
→ Focused on personal growth and freedom of imagination.
Structure
• Regular (5 stanzas).
• Set rhyme scheme: ababccb.
• Regularity: Slow progression of Day while waiting for Night.
• Dashes: Dramatic pauses introducing personal and emotional statements.
• Exclamation marks: Extreme longing.
• Indented Lines:
→ Most personal comments.
→ Separation from the norm and society.
Imagery/Figures of Speech/Diction
• Extended personification: Shows Night as human and can therefore has a close and
intimate relationship with it.
• Apostrophe: Direct address to something non-human as if it is human.
Meaning
• Night is a time to escape social standards and gives safety and thoughtfulness.
• Lyrical poem – Speaker expresses emotions from a personal viewpoint, longing for
night.
Tone
• Dramatic yearning, melancholic, desperate.
Swiftly walk over 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, Address to night
Which make thee terrible and dear,— Speaker’s assertion
Swift be thy flight!
Day/Dawn
Wrap thy form in a mantle gray, Death/Sleep rejected
Star-inwrought!
Blind with thine hair the eyes of Day; Punctuation
Kiss her until she be wearied out, Sound Devices
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 sigh’d for thee;
When light rode high, and the dew was gone,
And noon lay heavy on flower and tree,
And the weary Day turn’d to his rest,
Lingering like an unloved guest,
I sigh’d for thee.
Thy brother Death came, and cried,
Wouldst thou me?
Thy sweet child Sleep, the filmy-eyed,
Murmur’d 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, belovèd Night—
Swift be thine approaching flight,
Come soon, soon!
, Biographical information:
• Romantic Poetry movement
→ Intense emotions and individual thinking reflected in art.
→ Focused on personal growth and freedom of imagination.
Structure
• Regular (5 stanzas).
• Set rhyme scheme: ababccb.
• Regularity: Slow progression of Day while waiting for Night.
• Dashes: Dramatic pauses introducing personal and emotional statements.
• Exclamation marks: Extreme longing.
• Indented Lines:
→ Most personal comments.
→ Separation from the norm and society.
Imagery/Figures of Speech/Diction
• Extended personification: Shows Night as human and can therefore has a close and
intimate relationship with it.
• Apostrophe: Direct address to something non-human as if it is human.
Meaning
• Night is a time to escape social standards and gives safety and thoughtfulness.
• Lyrical poem – Speaker expresses emotions from a personal viewpoint, longing for
night.
Tone
• Dramatic yearning, melancholic, desperate.
