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In The Placid Summer Midnight

By William Ernest Henley

Topics: classic

In the placid summer midnight,     Under the drowsy sky,     I seem to hear in the stillness     The moths go glimmering by.     One by one from the windows     The lights have all been sped.     Never a blind looks conscious -     The street is asleep in bed!     But I come where a living casement     Laughs luminous and wide;     I hear the song of a piano     Break in a sparkling tide;     And I feel, in the waltz that frolics     And warbles swift and clear,     A sudden sense of shelter     And friendliness and cheer . . .     A sense of tinkling glasses,     Of love and laughter and light -     The piano stops, and the window     Stares blank out into the night.     The blind goes out, and I wander     To the old, unfriendly sea,     The lonelier for the memory     That walks like a ghost with me.

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"In the placid summer midnight,..."

Exploring the themes of classic, William Ernest Henley delivers a powerful performance in "In The Placid Summer Midnight"... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

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Author:William Ernest Henley

"In the placid summer midnight,..." by William Ernest Henley

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William Ernest Henley

About William Ernest Henley

William Ernest Henley (1849–1903) was an English poet, critic, and editor best known for his poem "Invictus" ("I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul"). Written while recovering from tuberculosis of the bone, it has become one of the most quoted poems of courage and resilience.

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"What have I done for you,     England, my England?..."

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