The night is darkening round me, The wild winds coldly blow; But a tyrant spell has bound me And I cannot, cannot go. The giant trees are bending Their bare boughs weighed with snow,
And the storm is fast descending, And yet I cannot go. Clouds beyond clouds above me, Wastes beyond wastes below;
But nothing drear can move me— I will not, cannot go.

The Night Is Darkening Round M

The night is darkening round me,
The wild winds coldly blow;
But a tyrant spell has bound me,
And I cannot, cannot go.

The giant trees are bending
Their bare boughs weighed with snow;
The storm is fast descending,
And yet I cannot go.

Clouds beyond clouds above me,
Wastes beyond wastes below;
But nothing drear can move me;
I will not, cannot go.

Strain

IT is late
And the clock is striking thin hours,
But sleep has become a terror to me,
Lest I wake in the night
Bewildered,
And stretching out my arms to comfort myself with you,
Clasp instead the cold body of the darkness.
All night it will hunger over me,
And push and undulate against me,
Breathing into my mouth
And passing long fingers through my drifting hair.
Only the dawn can loose me from it,
And the gray streaks of morning melt it from my side.
Bring many candles,
Though they stab my tired brain
And hurt it.
For I am afraid of the twining of the darkness
And dare not sleep.

I am borne darkly, fearfully, afar;

I bear the dungeon within me; within me is winter, ice, and despair; I have darkness in my soul.

I cannot explain the sadness
That's fallen on my breast.
An old, old fable haunts me,
And will not let me rest.

My specter around me night and day
Like a wild beast guards my way,
My emanation far within
Weeps incessantly for my sin.

But from my grave across my brow Plays no wind of healing now, And fire and ice within me fight Beneath the suffocating night.

I am terrified by this dark thing
That sleeps in me;
All day I feel its soft, feathery turnings, its malignity.

I have a soul of lead
So stakes me to the ground I cannot move.

Hearts are worn in these dark ages;
You're not alone in this story's pages.
Night has fallen amongst the living and the dying,
And I try to hold it in, yeah I try to hold it in.

Fury and wrath within me rave,
And tempt me to a warrior's grave.

Somebody curse the light
And take me far away from myself

No one but Night, with tears on her dark face, watches beside me in this windy place.