Meeting at Night

Robert Browning

The grey sea and the long black land;
And the yellow half-moon large and low;
And the startled little waves that leap
In fiery ringlets from their sleep,
As I gain the cove with pushing prow,
And quench its speed i' the slushy sand.

Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach;
Three fields to cross till a farm appears;
A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch
And blue spurt of a lighted match,
And a voice less loud, thro' its joys and fears,
Than the two hearts beating each to each!

About the Poem

Browning wrote this while courting his future wife, Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Elizabeth was six years his senior, semi-invalid, and already a successful poet.

Their marriage initially was secret. Her father did not approve of marriage for of any of his children, disinheriting them all.

They loved each other their entire lives. He never remarried.

A third section was later separated and became "Parting at Morning"

About Robert Browning 1812 - 1889

A poet who was NOT an emotional basket case, who loved and stayed true to his wife, and was successful at his art: whadda concept!

He became known for such poems as: "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came", "How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix", "The Pied Piper of Hamelin".

He is buried at Westminster Abbey