In these lines, Night is imagined as a person leaning on the hills, wearing a great white pearl—the moon—on a chain of stars. A thief of a cloud has stolen it. The speaker asks what robber cloud dared to do this. In the moon’s place is a red wound that drips anguished light. The speaker feels a mix of outrage and sorrow, as if the sky has been violently robbed of something beautiful and irreplaceable. The mood is dramatic and eerie: a calm, jeweled night suddenly becomes wounded and bleeding. The image of the red wound makes the loss feel bodily and painful, so the missing moon seems less like a natural event and more like an injury the night must endure. The poem leaves a strong aftertaste of violation, beauty, and mystery.
Skyway Robbery — Summary
Night, leaning there upon the hills. What robber cloud has dared?
The great white pearl you wore, Hung from your glittering chain of stars, Is gone: And in its place a red wound drips Its anguished light.