Poetry & Analysis
Selected Poems
Nature PoemsLight
The Night has a thousand eyes,
And the Day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
With the dying sun.
The mind has a thousand eyes,
And the heart but one;
Yet the light of a whole life dies
When love is done.
Overview Short Summary
This short poem uses the night sky’s many lights to explain love and emotional loss. The stars become a metaphor for the mind’s many ways of seeing, while the heart depends on one central light.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Love: The heart’s single light matters more than the mind’s many eyes.
- Loss: When love ends, the whole life darkens.
- Night imagery: The night’s thousand eyes suggest a sky filled with stars.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is concise, grave, and memorable. The mood is tender but sorrowful.
Craft Literary Devices
- Parallelism: The two stanzas mirror each other closely.
- Metaphor: Eyes and light stand for perception, love, and meaning.
- Contrast: Many lights cannot replace the single light of love.
Escape at Bedtime
The lights from the parlour and kitchen shone out
Through the blinds and the windows and bars;
And high overhead and all moving about,
There were thousands of millions of stars.
There ne’er were such thousands of leaves on a tree,
Nor of people in church or the Park,
As the crowds of the stars that looked down upon me,
And that glittered and winked in the dark.
The Dog, and the Plough, and the Hunter, and all,
And the star of the sailor, and Mars,
These shone in the sky, and the pail by the wall
Would be half full of water and stars.
They saw me at last, and they chased me with cries,
And they soon had me packed into bed;
But the glory kept shining and bright in my eyes,
And the stars going round in my head.
Overview Short Summary
Stevenson shows a child’s secret nighttime encounter with a sky full of stars. The poem is playful, visual, and ideal for readers looking for star poems for kids.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Childhood wonder: The child is overwhelmed by thousands of stars.
- Imagination: Stars appear in the sky, in a pail of water, and finally inside the child’s head.
- Night adventure: A small escape from bedtime becomes a large encounter with the universe.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is playful and excited. The mood is magical, childlike, and bright.
Craft Literary Devices
- Hyperbole: Thousands of millions of stars expresses childlike wonder rather than exact counting.
- Imagery: Windows, bars, sky, pail, and stars create a vivid bedtime scene.
- Personification: The stars look down, glitter, and wink.
Stars
Ah! why, because the dazzling sun
Restored our Earth to joy,
Have you departed, every one,
And left a desert sky?
All through the night, your glorious eyes
Were gazing down in mine,
And, with a full heart’s thankful sighs,
I blessed that watch divine.
I was at peace, and drank your beams
As they were life to me;
And revelled in my changeful dreams,
Like petrel on the sea.
Thought followed thought, star followed star
Through boundless regions on,
While one sweet influence, near and far,
Thrilled through and proved us one.
Why did the morning dawn to break
So great, so pure a spell,
And scorch with fire the tranquil cheek
Where your cool radiance fell?
Blood-red he rose, and arrow-straight
His fierce beams struck my brow;
The soul of nature sprang, elate,
But mine sank sad and low!
My lids closed down, yet through their veil
I saw him blazing still;
And steep in gold the misty dale,
And flash upon the hill.
I turned me to the pillow then
To call back Night, and see
Your worlds of solemn light, again,
Throb with my heart and me!
It would not do—the pillow glowed
And glowed both roof and floor;
And birds sang loudly in the wood,
And fresh winds shook the door;
The curtains waved, the wakened flies
Were murmuring round my room,
Imprisoned there, till I should rise,
And give them leave to roam.
O stars and dreams and gentle night;
O night and stars return!
And hide me from the hostile light
That does not warm, but burn;
That drains the blood of suffering men;
Drinks tears instead of dew:
Let me sleep through his blinding reign,
And only wake with you!
Overview Short Summary
Emily Brontë’s speaker loves the stars because they bring peace, dreams, and inward freedom. Daylight breaks the spell and becomes harsh, while night and stars are longed for as a gentler world.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Night versus day: Stars and night comfort the speaker, while daylight feels hostile.
- Dream and imagination: The stars open boundless regions of thought and dream.
- Solace: The speaker finds peace under the stars that ordinary daylight cannot give.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is intense, yearning, and inward. The mood is dreamlike at first, then troubled and resistant to daylight.
Craft Literary Devices
- Apostrophe: The speaker addresses the stars and night directly.
- Contrast: Cool star-radiance is opposed to burning daylight.
- Personification: Stars gaze, day wounds, and night seems capable of returning.
The Stars
‘See, the stars are coming
In the far blue skies!
Mother, look! they brighten—
Are they angel’s eyes?’
‘No, my child, the splendor
Of those stars is given,
Like the hues of flowers,
By the God of heaven.’
‘Mother, if I study,
Sure He ‘ll let me know
Why those stars he lighted
O’er our earth to glow:’
‘Child—what God has finished
Has a glorious aim,—
Thine it is to worship
And love His holy name.’
Overview Short Summary
This children’s poem frames stars through a conversation between mother and child. It combines curiosity, moral teaching, and a child’s desire to understand why stars shine.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Childhood curiosity: The child asks whether stars are angel’s eyes.
- Learning: The poem links study with the wish to understand the sky.
- Faith: The mother’s answer turns the stars into signs of divine purpose.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is gentle, instructional, and affectionate. The mood is simple and child-friendly.
Poetic Form Rhyme Scheme and Structure
The poem is built as a short dialogue, which makes it easy for children, parents, or teachers to read aloud.
The Stars
No cloud obscures the summer sky,
The moon in brightness walks on high,
And, set in azure, every Star
Shines, a pure gem of heaven, afar!
Child of the earth! oh! lift thy glance
To yon bright firmament’s expanse;
The glories of its realm explore,
And gaze, and wonder, and adore!
Doth it not speak to every sense
The marvels of Omnipotence?
Seest thou not there the Almighty name,
Inscribed in characters of flame?
Count o’er those lamps of quenchless light,
That sparkle through the shades of night;
Behold them!—can a mortal boast
To number that celestial host?
Mark well each little Star, whose rays
In distant splendor meet thy gaze;
Each is a world, by Him sustained,
Who from eternity hath reigned.
Each, kindled not for earth alone,
Hath circling planets of its own,
And beings, whose existence springs
From Him, the all-powerful King of kings.
Haply, those glorious beings know
Nor stain of guilt, nor tear of woe;
But raising still the adoring voice,
For ever in their God rejoice.
What then art thou, oh! child of clay!
Amid creation’s grandeur, say?
—E’en as an insect on the breeze,
E’en as a dew-drop, lost in seas!
Yet fear thou not!—the sovereign hand,
Which spread the ocean and the land,
And hung the rolling spheres in air,
Hath, e’en for thee, a Father’s care!
Be thou at peace! the all-seeing eye,
Pervading earth, and air, and sky,
The searching glance which none may flee,
Is still, in mercy, turned on thee.
Overview Short Summary
Hemans presents the stars as a lesson in awe, humility, and comfort. The poem begins with a clear night sky and expands toward the vastness of creation.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Wonder: The poem asks the child to gaze, wonder, and adore.
- Humility: Human smallness is measured against the huge celestial host.
- Comfort: The final movement reassures the child that vastness does not remove care.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is devotional, instructive, and elevated. The mood is reverent and reassuring.
Craft Literary Devices
- Apostrophe: The poem addresses the child of the earth directly.
- Metaphor: Stars are lamps, gems, and characters of flame.
- Rhetorical question: Questions help the poem guide the reader toward awe.
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