Who is it that this dark night

Song Meaning

This poem opens with a plea from someone outside, lamenting in the "dark night" beneath a window. The speaker is "exil'd" from the beloved's sight, finding all other "vulgar light" disdainful. This sets a scene of desperate longing and isolation, where the outside world holds no appeal without the presence of the one within. The central tension arises from the beloved's potential change and the speaker's fear of it. The narrator questions if "fond fancies" have changed, pleading that if change is found in them, it should lead to their own "ruin." This reveals a deep-seated insecurity and a willingness to accept utter destruction if the love is not reciprocated or if the beloved's feelings waver. The lyrics grapple with the power of absence and time. Initially, the speaker suggests absence might help them "myself to sunder / From what in my heart doth lie." However, this is immediately countered by the idea that "Time doth work what no man knoweth," and with time, affection "groweth / In the faithful turtledove." This creates a complex push-and-pull between the desire to forget and the growing, perhaps even strengthened, love. The poem's effectiveness lies in its dramatic questioning and the raw vulnerability it exposes. The narrator’s internal debate about Reason versus affection, and the fear of external forces like "Fortune's sway" and "Argus' eyes," paints a picture of a love under siege. The final plea to "be gone" to protect the beloved, while simultaneously vowing their soul will "harbour there," encapsulates a profound, almost masochistic devotion that is both heartbreaking and intensely compelling.