A Shot at Night

A shot rings out upon the dreaming night.

Night shivers to pieces like a broken vase;

The stars are spangled on the sky like lace;

The moon is shedding a terrible cold light;

And, like the crystal running of a stream

Of water flowing from a broken jar,

Fear creeps across the earth, and every star

Stops moving, and a moment dulls the gleam

Of the ivory moon. The rustling boughs of trees

Are silent, and a rare and breathless chill

Falls on the world, and makes it very still.

Then the cocks crow, a watchdog barks ill ease

And is chorused by a hundred yapping curs.

Men turn in beds. A wind like weeping stirs.