Windy Nights

Windy Nights

By Robert Louis Stevenson 1850–1894
Whenever the moon and stars are set,
      Whenever the wind is high,
All night long in the dark and wet,
      A man goes riding by.
Late in the night when the fires are out,
Why does he gallop and gallop about?

Whenever the trees are crying aloud,
      And ships are tossed at sea,
By, on the highway, low and loud,
      By at the gallop goes he.
By at the gallop he goes, and then
By he comes back at the gallop again.

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Poet Robert Louis Stevenson 1850–1894

POET’S REGION Scotland

SCHOOL / PERIOD Victorian

Subjects Nature, Weather

Poetic Terms Rhymed Stanza

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Robert Louis Stevenson

Biography

Robert Louis Stevenson is best known as the author of the children’s classic Treasure Island, and the adult horror story, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Both of these novels have curious origins. A map of an imaginary island gave Stevenson the idea for the first story, and a nightmare supplied the premise of the second. In addition to memorable origins, these tales also share Stevenson’s key theme: the . . .

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Poems by Robert Louis Stevenson

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Poem Categorization

SUBJECT Nature, Weather

POET’S REGION Scotland

SCHOOL / PERIOD Victorian

Poetic Terms Rhymed Stanza

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Originally appeared in Poetry magazine.

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