My bedding lay half-pressed against my side

As I curled lost inside the dreams of night;

And yet the full moon, drear’s celestial bride,

Poured through my windows, mantling me with light.

What power, long unknown to me, would shine

At such an hour with such day-force? Pristine

In solitude, by some obscure design

She reigned in stunning vigil, long unseen.

Awakening, I tossed off crumpled shrouds

As sleep’s last traces with the dim sheets slipped

Away, and I peered out: some blackish clouds

Swirled round the orb where high-born breezes whipped.

Then all the brighter every moon-ray beamed

Against that scrim of gloom where shadows streamed!