When night is o'er the wood
And moon-scared watch-dogs howl,
Comes forth in search of food
The snowy mystic owl.
His soft, white ghostly wings
Beat noislessly the air
Like some lost soul that hopelessly
Is mute in its despair

But now his hollow note
Rings cheerless through the glade
And o'er the silent moat
He flits from shade to shade
He hovers, swoops, and glides
O'er meadows, moors, and streams;
He seems to be some fantasy---
A ghostly bird of dreams.

Why dost thou haunt the night?
Why dost thou love the moon?
When other birds delight
To sing their joy at noon?
Art thou then crazed with love,
Or is't for some fell crime
That thus thou flittest covertly
At this unhallowed time?

Did this poet make you see pictures in your head? Did you imagine the "soft, white,ghostly wings"? Sometimes the poet used very old-fashioned language, such as "thou" for you (talking to the owl) or "dost" for do. Do you think that the author used this language for a reason?

Learn more about poems

This poem was taken from the book Poems of Magic and Spells edited by William Cole, copyright 1960, published by the World Publishing Company: Cleveland and New York.

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