The Sun Went Down
The Sun went down upon my day; The Moon came up — its light was dim; And soon all light had passed away, For Sun and Moon went out with him And set for aye.
Anna M. Johnson
SourceLicence:Public domain (US, unrenewed)
The Sun went down upon my day; The Moon came up — its light was dim; And soon all light had passed away, For Sun and Moon went out with him And set for aye.
Five short lines carry a whole story of loss. The speaker begins with a simple image: the sun going down on "my day," which quietly turns an ordinary sunset into something personal. The moon rises next, but its light is weak, and it offers little comfort. Then comes the turn. The last two lines reveal that "him" has gone, and that when he left, the sun and the moon went with him. The poem suggests the speaker has lost someone she loved, though it never says how or why.
What gives the poem its force is its restraint. The speaker doesn't describe tears or name her grief outright. Instead, the sky itself dims and empties, as though the world has lost its light along with the person. The final phrase, "set for aye," means set forever, and it closes the poem with a heavy finality. The mood is hushed, bleak, and still, like the quiet after something has ended for good.