Beside the sleeping lad, the speaker’s restless heart lies awake through the whole night, caught between love and pain. The mood is intimate but lonely: one person rests in sleep while the other keeps a private, aching vigil. The speaker already imagines the daylight, when eyes will meet and the moment will change. Someday, he fears, the young man will look into his eyes and then look away—so the tenderness is shadowed by anticipated rejection or shame. In the closing lines, he promises that if death does not stop him, he will come again to the sleeper’s side and say the prayer he now prays, one he thought he had forgotten. It feels like a quiet night-song: gentle, sorrowful, and full of love that can only be spoken while the other sleeps.
Nocturne — Summary
Beside you while you slumbered, lad, My restless heart had lain Through all the hours of the night Aware of love and pain.
Aware of love and morning’s light And eyes that must betray When someday you should look in mine Then ever look away.
I’ll come to where you slumber, lad, If death shall mark me not And say the prayer that now I pray, And thought I had forgot.