The Moon

Jane, 6, speaking

I love the moon when it is new, As it peeps out from evening blue; I love it more when by its side The Evening Star shines like a bride.

I love the moon with golden rim, It looks so pretty and so trim. But when half full it has more worth,— It sheds more light upon the earth.

But round and full I love it best, All night it shines from east to west; Its quiet face looks down on us, And asks why all this noise and fuss.

Solomon F. Gingerich

SourceLicence:Public domain (US, unrenewed)

Mood:: Contemplative
Topics:: star, moon, sky, evening

What is this poem about?

Summary

Gingerich takes the moon through its phases, one stanza each, and says the same thing every time: I love it. The speaker greets the new moon as it slips out of the evening blue, with the Evening Star beside it "like a bride." Next comes the golden rim of the crescent, which looks "pretty and so trim," though the half moon earns more respect because it gives more light. Then the full moon wins, shining across the sky all night.

The tone is simple and affectionate, almost childlike, helped along by tidy rhymed couplets that sound like nursery verse. What lifts the poem is the last two lines. The full moon becomes a calm observer, looking down at people and quietly wondering why they make "all this noise and fuss." After all the admiration, the speaker lets the moon gently tease us, and the poem ends on a smile and a small dose of peace.

Read alsoPoem analysis →

Learn by heart: tap a gap

I love the moon it is new,

As it peeps out from blue;

Open the trainer

Keep going on the web or in the app.

The Moon

What is this poem about?

Learn by heart: tap a gap

Describe a feeling — we’ll find a poem

Learn Poems app

What is this poem about?

Twice had Summer her fair Verdure

Rote

What is this poem about?

Learn by heart: tap a gap

Describe a feeling — we’ll find a poem

More by Solomon F. Gingerich

In the same mood

On the same theme

What is this poem about?

More by Solomon F. Gingerich

In the same mood

On the same theme