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!