Glaciers

In the poem, glaciers symbolize the connection between humans and a vast, magnificent, and dangerous reality beyond their control. The speaker wakes to "feel the moon's glaciers" engulf her and her sleeping partner, which causes a cold fear of death to set in (2). The natural course of life includes death, which inspires both fear and an awareness of beauty in the speaker.

Silver

Silver symbolizes value and worth. Even as she fears the cold stillness and silence of the night due to the way it resembles death, the speaker recognizes its beauty. This can be seen when the "moon's glaciers / slide their silvers over the bed" (2-3).

Marble

Marble symbolizes death, commemoration, art, and antiquity. The speaker notices how the moonlight causes her partner's hand to appear like marble, evoking the pale stillness of death.

Feathers

Feathers symbolize flight and travel. A feather pillow muffles the...