The Night-Wind
In summer's mellow midnight,A cloudless moon shone throughOur open parlour window,And rose-trees wet with dew.
I sat in silent musing;The soft wind waved my hair;It told me heaven was glorious,And sleeping earth was fair.
I needed not its breathingTo bring such thoughts to me;But still it whispered lowly,How dark the woods will be!
"The thick leaves in my murmurAre rustling like a dream,And all their myriad voicesInstinct with spirit seem."
I said, "Go, gentle singer,Thy wooing voice is kind:But do not think its musicHas power to reach my mind.
"Play with the scented flower,The young tree's supple bough,And leave my human feelingsIn their own course to flow."
The wanderer would not heed me;Its kiss grew warmer still."O come!" it sighed so sweetly;"I'll win thee 'gainst thy will.
"Were we not friends from childhood?Have I not loved thee long?As long as thou, the solemn night,Whose silence wakes my song.
"And when thy heart is restingBeneath the church-aisle stone,I shall have time for mourning,And THOU for being alone."
Ay--there it is! it wakes to-nightDeep feelings I thought dead;Strong in the blast--quick gathering light--The heart's flame kindles red.
"Now I can tell by thine altered cheek,And by thine eyes' full gaze,And by the words thou scarce dost speak,How wildly fancy plays.
"Yes--I could swear that glorious windHas swept the world aside,Has dashed its memory from thy mindLike foam-bells from the tide:
"And thou art now a spirit pouringThy presence into all:The thunder of the tempest's roaring,The whisper of its fall:
"An universal influence,From thine own influence free;A principle of life--intense--Lost to mortality.
"Thus truly, when that breast is cold,Thy prisoned soul shall rise;The dungeon mingle with the mould--The captive with the skies.Nature's deep being, thine shall hold,Her spirit all thy spirit fold,Her breath absorb thy sighs.Mortal! though soon life's tale is told;Who once lives, never dies!"
Words in this poem
- cloudless a.
- Without a cloud; clear; bright.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- myriad n.
- The number of ten thousand; ten thousand persons or things. [Gr. myriade.]
- childhood n.
- The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty. [AS. cildhad; cild child + -had. See Child, and hood.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- mortality n.
- The condition or quality of being mortal; subjection to death or to the necessity of dying. [L. mortalitas: cf. F. mortalité.]
- dungeon n.
- A close, dark prison, commondonjon or keep of a castle, these being used as prisons. [OE. donjoun highest tower of a castle, tower, prison, F. donjon tower or platform in the midst of a castle, turret, or closet on the top of a house, a keep of a]
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Night-Wind is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, Project Gutenberg ebook #1019; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë, The Night-Wind, in Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (1846), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1019, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bronte-poems/the-night-wind.html, id L13274.
Form and metre
The Night-Wind is 65 lines in 15 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABAB, in 4 of the 15 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 18 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-A midnight · throughA · window · dewA
- 2 -A-A musing · hairA · glorious · fairA
- 3 -A-A breathing · meA · lowly · beA
- 4 -A-A murmur · dreamA · voices · seemA
- 5 -A-A singer · kindA · music · mindA
- 7 -A-A me · stillA · sweetly · willA
- 8 -A-A childhood · longA · night · songA
- 9 -A-A resting · stoneA · mourning · aloneA
- 10 ABAB nightA · deadB · lightA · redB
- 11 ABAB cheekA · gazeB · speakA · playsB
- 12 ABAB windA · asideB · mindA · tideB
- 13 ABAB pouringA · allB · roaringA · fallB
- 14 A-A- influenceA · free · intenseA · mortality
- 15 ABABAABAB coldA · riseB · mouldA · skiesB · holdA · foldA · sighsB · toldA · diesB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In summer's mellow midnight, | 7 | ·/˘/˘/· |
| A cloudless moon shone through | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Our open parlour window, | 7 | //˘/˘/˘ |
| And rose-trees wet with dew. | 6 | ······ |
| I sat in silent musing; | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| The soft wind waved my hair; | 6 | ······ |
| It told me heaven was glorious, | 7 | ···/·/˘ |
| And sleeping earth was fair. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I needed not its breathing | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| To bring such thoughts to me; | 6 | ······ |
| But still it whispered lowly, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| How dark the woods will be! | 6 | ······ |
| "The thick leaves in my murmur | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Are rustling like a dream, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And all their myriad voices | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Instinct with spirit seem." | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| I said, "Go, gentle singer, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Thy wooing voice is kind: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But do not think its music | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Has power to reach my mind. | 6 | ·/···· |
| "Play with the scented flower, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| The young tree's supple bough, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And leave my human feelings | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| In their own course to flow." | 6 | ······ |
| The wanderer would not heed me; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Its kiss grew warmer still. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| "O come!" it sighed so sweetly; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| "I'll win thee 'gainst thy will. | 6 | ······ |
| "Were we not friends from childhood? | 7 | ·····/· |
| Have I not loved thee long? | 6 | ······ |
| As long as thou, the solemn night, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Whose silence wakes my song. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| "And when thy heart is resting | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Beneath the church-aisle stone, | 6 | ······ |
| I shall have time for mourning, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And THOU for being alone." | 6 | ···/˘/ |
| Ay--there it is! it wakes to-night | 8 | ········ |
| Deep feelings I thought dead; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Strong in the blast--quick gathering light-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The heart's flame kindles red. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| "Now I can tell by thine altered cheek, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And by thine eyes' full gaze, | 6 | ······ |
| And by the words thou scarce dost speak, | 8 | ········ |
| How wildly fancy plays. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| "Yes--I could swear that glorious wind | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Has swept the world aside, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Has dashed its memory from thy mind | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Like foam-bells from the tide: | 6 | ······ |
| "And thou art now a spirit pouring | 8 | ·····//˘ |
| Thy presence into all: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The thunder of the tempest's roaring, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| The whisper of its fall: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| "An universal influence, | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| From thine own influence free; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A principle of life--intense-- | 7 | ·/˘··˘/ |
| Lost to mortality. | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| "Thus truly, when that breast is cold, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thy prisoned soul shall rise; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The dungeon mingle with the mould-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The captive with the skies. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Nature's deep being, thine shall hold, | 7 | /˘·/··· |
| Her spirit all thy spirit fold, | 6 | ·/··/· |
| Her breath absorb thy sighs. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Mortal! though soon life's tale is told; | 8 | /˘······ |
| Who once lives, never dies!" | 6 | ···/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.