A Night in the Woods In solemn woods where silence deep, Invites the whisper of the trees, Where shadows dance and shadows creep, And drift like thoughts upon the breeze.

The moon is cloaked in velvet night, The stars like spirits wandering far, As nature weaves her purest light, And shines through every earthly scar.

Each rustle gains a voiced refrain, A harmony of life’s sweet breath, In scented air that speaks of rain, Both life and love entwined in death.

So let me wander, lost and free, Among the whispers of the dark, For in these woods, my soul shall be As part of nature’s endless spark.

— Excerpt from “A Night in the Woods” (not an actual poem of Melville)

• Herman Melville