To Night

By Percy Bysshe Shelley

ROMANTIC POETS
• Elevation of emotion and imagination over reason, and
the natural world over city life.
• Focused on the individual (common man).
• Power of the imagination.
• Emotional aspect of the human experience.
• Respect for natural world and its beauty.
• Fascination with the mystical and supernatural.
• Rebellion against authority.
 PERCY BYSSHE
SHELLEY
• Poems exemplify English Romanticism: joyous
ecstasy and brooding despair.
• Started writing at 17. Died when he drowned at
age 29.
• Bullied as a child for his less-than-mainstream
ideas (e.g. atheism).
• Initially supported by his father than then cut off
by him.
• Something of a lover: eloped with Harriet
Westbrook, left her for Mary Shelley (author of
Frankenstein) and settled with Jane Williams (this
excludes a number of affairs and attempted
dalliances with various women). Indications of a
romance with friend, Thomas Jefferson Hogg.
• Known to be friendly and sociable, but preferred
his own company.
• Prone to dark thoughts and often dissatisfied with
Soft sounds: mystery and PERSONIFICATION of Night.
reverence of Night. KEY FIGURE OF SPEECH:
Night lives in a cave during
Personification the and weaves dreams to
The ‘East’ was
share with people at night.
considered an exotic and
Note the mystical and
mysterious destination.
Swiftly walk over the Western wave magical imagery used to
Add the mist = adds to
describe Night used
perception of Night. Spirit of the Night! throughout the poem.
Out of the misty eastern cave,
CONTRAST IN DICTION:
Night weaves both
Where, all the long and lone daylight, Combination of soft sounds
beautiful dreams and Though wovest dreams of joy and fear and hard sounds: Reflects
Which make thee terrible and dear, - the contradiction in people’s
nightmares - humans are
feelings about Night.
in love with Night, and Swift be thy flight!
also afraid of it.

Direct appeal by the poet

– he wants night to come
quickly: he is not afraid.
Mantel = cloak. Star-
PERSONIFICATION of Day:
inwrought = stars woven
Night must cover Day’s eyes,
into fabric.
and tire her out with kisses, so
PERSONIFICATION: Night that she flees (day leaves when
wears a cloak. night arrives, but at dusk they
Wrap thy form on mantel grey
METAPHOR: the cloak is interact)
a metaphor for the night
Star-inwrought!
sky. Blind with thine hair the eyes of Day, Opium was not a regulated
Kiss her until she be wearied out, drug at the time, and it was
IMAGERY: like a
used by some Romantic poets.
magician. Then wander o’er city, and sea, and land. It was also prescribed to help
IMAGERY: Night carries a
Touching all with thine opiate wand – with insomnia – hence its
wand/staff (magical) and Come, long-sought! relevance here.
‘touch[es] all’ – with
dreams or sleep. Has he Again the direct appeal. ‘Long-
power to reach sought’ – looked for for a long
everyone, everywhere: time.
‘city, sea, land’.
Poet misses Night when
the day breaks. This is
repeated – the longing DICTION: passage of
grows throughout the When I arose and saw the dawn, time (time drags).
day.
I sigh’d for thee;
When light rode high, and dew was gone, Day is PERSONIFIED
SIMILE: Even when Day
again – this time as a
is tired, he ‘lingers’ and And noon lay heavy on flower and tree, man. Day was a woman
is ‘unloved’. Shows the And the weary Day turn’d his rest, described as a woman in
frustration of the poet – Lingering like an unloved guest, the previous stanza.
if Day would just leave,
Night would arrive. I sigh’d for thee. NOTE: Night is not
allocated a gender in the
Soft sounds: long ‘l’ poem.
sound links to the
weariness of Day, yet
Day still stays, also links
to time dragging.
Death is PERSONIFIED –
asks if the poet would
like him/her instead. DICTION: Sleep is depicted as
Death is Night’s tired/just woken up.
‘brother’ – takes people Thy brother Death came, and cried, SIMILE: Sleep murmurs like a
into a different
‘Wouldst thou me?’ gently buzzing bee – noon is the
darkness.
They sweet child Sleep, the flimy-eyed, middle of the day – tired, slow,
Sleep is PERSONIFIED Murmur’d like a noontide bee, sleepy.
as Night’s ‘child’ – a ‘Shall I nestle near thy side?
product of Night – asks Poet rejects both Death and
Wouldst thou me?’ – And I replied, Sleep outright. They are only
the poet if it would like
him/her instead – will ‘No, not thee!’ versions of Night – he wants the
creep closer and help real thing.
him to forget.

Note how the DIRECT

SPEECH supports the
PERSONIFICATION.
Poet says that Death will
come eventually, and Death will come when thou art dead,
Sleep comes when Night Soon, too soon –
has gone. Won’t waste DICTION:
Sleep will come when thou art fled;
his time – can Sleep helpful/beneficial/blessing
permanently after
Of neither would I ask the boon
Death. I ask of thee, belovéd Night – DICTION: poet’s feelings for
Swift be thine approaching flight, Night.
Ends with a combination Come soon, soon!
of the two direct
appeals seen in previous
stanzas – desperation.
THINGS TO CONSIDER:
• Lyrical quality, but no set rhyme scheme and metre. What is the
impact of this?

• The mood of the poem is described as ‘melancholic’. Do you

agree?

• What is the tone of the poem?

• Could addressing Night directly be considered an apostrophe?