Meeting At Night by Robert Browning - Summary - Explanation

The poem "Meeting at Night" written by Robert Browning is a short poem of twelve lines poem written in the rhyme scheme of abccba deffed. 

Stanza 1

In the first stanza, the narrator gives an imagery of the depiction of the sea and the land, how they seem grey and black respectively. The waves and tides ebb in a circular formation. He can see the yellow half-moon above him laying low. Through these initial lines, we come to know that he is somewhere near the sea and is approaching the land through a ship. As the ship reaches the sandy shore, its speed dwindles.

Through the title of the poem, we can reckon that the narrator is meeting someone at night. Another question can be raised about why he is meeting in dark. Who is he meeting? This suspense will be cleared at the end of the poem. 

Stanza 2

After reaching the land, he walks a mile on the beach and across three fields and then, at last, he reaches his destination, a farmhouse. He taps on the window pane of the house, succeeded by a quick scratch on the pane to hint a particular someone of his presence. The waiting person, perhaps his beloved, receives the message of his arrival and she lights a matchstick to lighten his way inside. They whisper inside with sounds connoting "joys and fears" i.e. they are happy to meet but they have fears too, perhaps, if they might get caught. Their joy is too much to hold and they embrace each other in their arms. Their hearts find refuge in each other beat "each to each".

This is a story of a lover traveling to meet his beloved at night to avoid any hassle or controversy. She is aware of his possible visit, that's why she remains vigilant at night taking note of any sign of her lover's arrival. It seems that their love is not approved by the girl's family. Their fear is depicted in the last second line of the poem when they are happy to see each other but at the same time, they are afraid too as, with their joy comes another thing which is perilous.

All their fears end when their hearts are next to each other.

Literary devices

"startled little waves" - Personification

"speed... slushing sand" - Alliteration

"less loud" - Antithesis