The Long Night

By Eleanor St. James

The night is long, but stars fade, As morning waits, soft and slow, The shadows stretch, the world unsaid, A quiet breath beneath the glow. The sky turns deeper, and time slips by, Each hour a fleeting, silent thread, A soft wind whispers, then passes by, A call for all things left unsaid. A lone bird calls in the hollow dark, Its wings a whisper in the night, The wind spins softly, leaves depart, Then returns with the first light. The moon begins its slow descent, Its pale face caught between two worlds, It speaks no words, yet still its presence Guides the lost thoughts of men and girls. And as the dawn begins to break, A single ray climbs in the sky, The night has gone for morning’s sake, But leaves the dream behind, to lie. In silence deep, the sky turns bright, The shadows flee, the world awakes, But still, the heart knows in the night, A memory of the past it takes.

How does the poet’s use of language shape your understanding of the speaker’s emotional journey in the poem?