He sinks into deep thought.

There are shadows that compel us, There are voices that control; More than substance these can tell us, Speaking to the human soul.

In the moonlight, when it glistened On my window, white as snow, Once I woke and, leaning, listened To a voice that sang below.

Full of gladness, full of yearning, Strange with dreamy melody, Like a bird whose heart is burning, Wildly sweet it sang to me.

I arose; and by the starlight, Pale beneath the mystic sky, I have seen it full of far light,— My dead joy go singing by.

In the darkness, when the glimmer Of the storm was on the pane, I have sat and heard a dimmer Voice lamenting in the rain.

Full of parting and unspoken Heartbreak, faint with agony, Like a bird whose heart is broken, Sadly low it cried to me.

I arose; and in the darkness Wan beneath the haunted sky, I have seen it, cold to starkness,— My dead love go weeping by.