The Night has a Thousand Eyes
By Francis William Bourdillon (1852-1921)
A British poet, novelist, and translator, Bourdillon is primarily remembered for this great poem.
The night has a thousand eyes,
And the day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
With the dying sun.
The mind has a thousand eyes,
And the heart but one:
Yet the light of a whole life dies
When love is done.
A simple poem, but it gives an image that might have more to mine beneath its surface. The poet makes a connection between our heart and the sun, and our mind and the stars in the night sky. It is a beautiful connection. Our mind seems to have a multiplicity far beyond our heart, but at the end of the day it really is our heart seems to have a power far beyond our mind. But its a sad, foreboding ending. We will lose our light, our joy, our raison d’etre, the flavor of our existence, when and if we lose our love. Love dies like a setting sun, and our world is plunged into darkness.
Our heat is the sun, and love dies like a setting sun. Got it, that’s a great image.
And yet.
If our heart is the sun, well, I’ve got something wonderful to share with you all. It’s called a sunrise, and they’re pretty great.
Our heart is the sun, and every sunset is followed, in due time, by a sunrise. Our love can die, yes, but it can also rise. We may lose our light, for a time. But not forever.
This poem is fire.