Lyric Poem · Death & Loss

In Memoriam 67: When on my bed the moonlight falls

by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Reading room

1When on my bed the moonlight falls,

2I know that in thy place of rest

3By that broad water of the west,

4There comes a glory on the walls:

5Thy marble bright in dark appears,

6As slowly steals a silver flame

7Along the letters of thy name,

8And o'er the number of thy years.

9The mystic glory swims away;

10From off my bed the moonlight dies;

11And closing eaves of wearied eyes

12I sleep till dusk is dipt in gray:

13And then I know the mist is drawn

14A lucid veil from coast to coast,

15And in the dark church like a ghost

16Thy tablet glimmers to the dawn.

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“In Memoriam 67: When on my bed the moonlight falls” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson — quilloak.com/poems/in-memoriam-67-when-on-my-bed-the-moonlight-falls

Quick facts

Poem: In Memoriam 67: When on my bed the moonlight falls
Poet: Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Length: 16 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Death & Loss, Dreams & Sleep

Craft notes

How this poem works

Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.

Shape: 16 lines · 2 stanzas of 4–12 lines
Line length: Mostly 8-syllable lines (tetrameter length).

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Author record: Alfred, Lord Tennyson1809–1892
Source record: PoetryDBIn Memoriam 67: When on my bed the moonlight falls by alfred-lord-tennyson, PoetryDB transcription
Display decision: Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record: Not recorded in the imported source
Text fingerprint: SHA-256 4698dae1e491e953…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Death & Loss Dreams & Sleep

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