midnight
I can understand these alternations of feeling in a young person who has been long absorbed in a single pursuit , and in whom the human instincts which have been long silent are now beginning to find expression . I know well what he wants ; a great deal better , I think , than he knows himself . WIND-CLOUDS AND STAR-DRIFTS . Brief glimpses of the bright celestial spheres , False lights , false shadows , vague , uncertain gleams , Pale vaporous mists , wan streaks of lurid flame , The climbing of the upward-sailing cloud , The sinking of the downward-falling star , All these are pictures of the changing moods Borne through the midnight stillness of my soul . Here am I , bound upon this pillared rock , Prey to the vulture of a vast desire That feeds upon my life . I burst my bands And steal a moment 's freedom from the beak , The clinging talons and the shadowing plumes ; Then comes the false enchantress , with her song ; `` Thou wouldst not lay thy forehead in the dust Like the base herd that feeds and breeds and dies ! Lo , the fair garlands that I weave for thee , Unchanging as the belt Orion wears , Bright as the jewels of the seven-starred Crown , The spangled stream of Berenice 's hair ! ''