The night is darkening round me,
The wild winds coldly blow;
But a tyrant spell has bound me,
And I cannot, cannot go.

The giant trees are bending
Their bare boughs weighed with snow;
The storm is fast descending,
And yet I cannot go.

Clouds beyond clouds above me,
Wastes beyond wastes below;
But nothing dreary moves me:
I will not, cannot go.

That wind I used to hear
With joy divinely deep
You might have seen my hot tears
But rapture made me weep

I used to love on winter nights
To lie and dream alone
Of all the hopes and real delights
My early years had known

And oh above the rest of those
That coming time should bear
Like heaven's stars they rose
Still beaming bright and fair
Like heaven's stars they rose
Still beaming bright and fair