Half the night I waste in sighs, Half in dreams I sorrow after The delight of early skies; In a wakeful dose I sorrow For the hand, the lips, the eyes, For the meeting of the morrow, The delight of happy laughter, The delight of low replies.

The speaker divides the night between two kinds of longing: conscious “sighs” and unconscious “dreams,” both dominated by grief and desire. The repeated “Half…” and the anaphora of “The delight…” create a rhythmic oscillation between pleasure remembered/imagined and pain felt in the present. Sensory details—“hand, the lips, the eyes”—suggest an intimate relationship, while “the meeting of the morrow” points to anticipation that is itself tormenting. The stanza captures how yearning can turn even hopeful images (morning skies, laughter, soft replies) into sources of sorrow when they are absent or uncertain.