Nighttime

The poem takes place entirely in the "still night" as the speaker writes poetry and lovers lie together in their beds (2). This is the main external setting since the poem can also be understood as taking place inside the speaker's mind. Moonlight "rages" down on the scene, giving the moon an active and passionate presence. The "singing light" that the speaker uses to write could be from the moon or could represent the sound an oil-lamp makes as it burns (6).

The Speaker's Mind

The poem also takes place inside the speaker's mind. Nighttime affords him the necessary solitude to pursue his craft. Though this solitude may generate loneliness and other "sullen" feelings in the speaker, he also needs it in order to write poetry (1). The word "labour" shows that the speaker considers his writing to be work. Perhaps he toils nightly to write his poems. In addition, the...