The Coming on of Night

“The Coming on of Night” is a short poem about growing older and facing death. In this poem, “night” (Line 10) is both literal and a metaphor for the end of a person’s life. The poet uses the communal pronoun “we” (Line 9) to signify that this is a poem about something that happens to all people, not just to the speaker. She uses metaphor, as well as sentence length, to create a sense of the suddenness of the change.

The first sentence is long and dwells on the “ambition” (Line 1) and “abstract / spark of hunger” (Lines 3-4) that characterize a life. This sentence is long because the subject matter comprises most of a person’s existence. Pursuing “hunger” (Line 4) takes up the majority of one’s living years. It is also a long sentence because the speaker is talking not only about herself but humankind in general. In the second stanza, when she elaborates on other people, noting “even those whose fiery / eccentricities seemed / inextinguishable […]” (Lines 5-7), she is taking time to explain that what she is saying applies to everyone, even those who appear remarkable. There is no vaulting ambition great enough to exempt any human being from the process toward the grave.