NIGHT - Lady Mary Wortley Montagu Poems

 
 

Poems » lady mary wortley montagu » night

NIGHT

A pale enchanted moon is sinking low
    Behind the dunes that fringe the shadowy lea,
And there is haunted starlight on the flow
    Of immemorial sea.

I am alone and need no more pretend
    Laughter or smile to hide a hungry heart;
I walk with solitude as with a friend
    Enfolded and apart.

We tread an eerie road across the moor
    Where shadows weave upon their ghostly looms,
And winds sing an old lyric that might lure
    Sad queens from ancient tombs.

I am a sister to the loveliness
    Of cool far hill and long-remembered shore,
Finding in it a sweet forgetfulness
    Of all that hurt before.

The world of day, its bitterness and cark,
    No longer have the power to make me weep;
I welcome this communion of the dark
    As toilers welcome sleep.