Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


MY NIGHT by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

Poet Analysis

First Line: HUSH! HUSH! LIST, HEART OF MINE
Last Line: BAPTIZE ME, DROWN ME IN BLACK SWIRLS OF BLISS!
Subject(s): BIRDS; MEMORY; NIGHT; SINGING & SINGERS; BEDTIME;

HUSH! hush! list, heart of mine, and hearken low!
You do not guess how tender is the Night,
And in what faintest murmurs of delight
Her deep, dim-throated utterances flow
Across the memories of long-ago!
Hark! do your senses catch the exquisite
Staccatos of a bird that dreams he sings?
Nay, then, you hear not rightly, -- 'tis a blur
Of misty love-notes, laughs and whisperings
The Night pours o'er the lips that fondle her,
And that faint breeze, filled with all fragrant sighs, --
That is her breath that quavers lover-wise --
O blessed sweetheart, with thy swart, sweet kiss,
Baptize me, drown me in black swirls of bliss!



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