The poem describes the poet's walk on a moonlit night with three friends. As they walk through nature, the sights and sounds deeply touch and enlighten them. The moonlight transforms the leaves and illuminates the forest with a magical glow. The poet feels a mystical connection with nature, understanding its voice and sympathetically feeling its spirit. In this enlightened state, he perceives a divine quality in all things and feels part of a greater universal spirit.

1. A WALK BY
MOONLIGHT-
BY HENRY
DEROZIO
Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, (born April 18,
1809, Calcutta; died Dec. 26, 1831, Calcutta), poet and assistant
headmaster of Hindu College, Calcutta, a radical thinker and one of
the first Indian educators to disseminate Western learning and
science among the young men of Bengal.
The son of an Indian father and an English mother, Derozio was
influenced by the English Romantic poets. He began publishing
patriotic verses when he was 17, which brought him to the attention
of the intellectual elite of Calcutta.

2. WHAT THOUGHTS COME TO YOUR MIND WHEN YOU THINK
OF A MOONLIT NIGHT?

3. Last night — it was a lovely night,
And I was very blest —
Shall it not be for Memory
A happy spot to rest?
THE POET FEELS BLESSED BECAUSE WHEN HIS MIND IS ANXIOUS
AND IS IN STATE OF TURMOIL, HE CAN PONDER ON HAPPY
MOMENTS FROM HIS PAST

4. Yes; there are in the backward past
Soft hours to which we turn —
Hours which, at distance, mildly
shine,
Shine on, but never burn.
memoryPleasant times
Memories from distant past
Like to ponder/contemplate about

5. And some of these but yesternight
Across my path were thrown,
Which made my heart so very light,
I think it could have flown.
memories Previous night
Flashed in his mind

6. I had been out to see a friend
With whom I others saw:
Like minds to like minds ever tend —
An universal law.
Drawn towards each other
Like-minded people are bonded together

7. And when we were returning home,
"Come who will walk with me,
A little way", I said, and lo!
I straight was joined by three:

8. Three whom I loved — two had high thoughts
And were, in age, my peers;
And one was young, but oh! endeared
As much as youth endears.
Cherished the most
Profound/intellectual thoughts
loved
As young people are always lovable & are
close to one’s heart

9. The moon stood silent in the sky,
And looked upon our earth:
The clouds divided, passing by,
In homage to her worth.
Looked powerful & majestic
Peered through parted clouds
Paid respect to the moon by not
Obscuring her path

10. There was a dance among the
leaves
Rejoicing at her power,
Who robes for them of silver
weaves
Within one mystic hour.
Leaves swayed gently in the breeze
celebrating
colour
WHEN THE MOON IS IN ITS ZENITH, IT SPREADS ITS DIVINE SILVERY
LIGHT ON THE LEAVES & THEY LOOK MAGICAL

11. THE BEAUTY OF THE NIGHT TRANSFORMS THEIR THINKING &
REVIVES THEIR HEARTS WHICH HAD BECOME NUMB
& EMOTIONLESS. THE POET AND HIS FRIENDS WERE DEEPLY
TOUCHED BY EVEN THE SMALLEST MOVEMENT OF NATURE
& USES THEM METAPHORICALLY TO BRING OUT THE JOY &
THE ENLIGHTENMENT THAT THEY RECEIVED IN THE LAP OF
NATURE.

12. There was a song among the
winds,
Hymning her influence —
That low-breathed minstrelsy
which binds
The soul to thought intense.
Singing in praise of strength of the moon
Soft/gentle music
musicians
The music in the moonlight enables the soul to think intensely

13. And there was something in
the night
That with its magic wound
us;
For we — oh! we not only
saw,
But felt the moonlight around
us.
There is something magical in the night that binds them together in its spell
And enchants them with its beauty. The poet turns philosophical.

14. How vague are all the mysteries
Which bind us to our earth;
How far they send into the heart
Their tones of holy mirth;
unclear
Divine joy
Poet turns philosophical here. He believes that there
is a mysterious relationship between man and nature.
When we realize it nature fills our
heart with divine joy

15. How lovely are the phantoms dim
Which bless that better sight,
That man enjoys when proud he
stands
In his own spirit's light;
Ghostly spirits
ELEMENTS OF NATURE ASSUME THE FORM OF DIM SPIRITS. THESE BLESS
MAN WHEN HE STANDS SPIRITUALLY CONNECTED WITH NATURE. HE
FEELS PROUD OF THIS UNIQUENESS WHEN HE IS TOUCHED AND
ENRICHED BY NATURE.

16. When, like a thing that is not ours.
This earthliness goes by,
And we behold the spiritualness
Of all that cannot die.
The scene brought about a mood which in turn made the poet’s mind alert and awake.
Such a mind, the poet thinks, is a ‘light’ to itself. It perceives better and everything
looks lovely. In such a state one apprehends the ‘ spiritualness’ or the permanence of
‘all that cannot die’ going beyond the ‘earthiness’ of the world of impermanent
matter.

17. 'Tis then we understand the voice
Which in the night-wind sings,
And feel the mystic melody
Played on the forest's strings.

18. The silken language of the stars
Becomes the tongue we speak,
And then we read the sympathy
That pales the young moon's cheek.
WHEN WE ARE DIVINELY CONNECTED WITH THE UNIVERSAL
SPIRIT OF NATURE, WE START SPEAKING THE SILKEN
LANGUAGE OF THE STARS. WHEN WE FEEL THE DIVINE GLORY
WITHIN US, WE BECOME HIGHLY SYMPATHETIC AND GLOW
WITH DIVINITY. THIS MAKES THE YOUNG MOON’S LIGHT PALE
INTO INSIGNIFICANCE.

19. The inward eye is open then
To glories, which in dreams
Visit the sleeper's couch, in robes
Woven of the rainbow's beams.
The poet then views nature – night wind, stars, the moon – not as inanimate but
as full of life. When his ‘inward eye’ opens to glories that seem to appear only in
dreams, he experiences heavenly bliss here on earth. It no more looks distant/
unreachable like the rainbow in the sky.
Awakening of consciousness

20. I bless my nature that I am
Allied to all the bliss,
Which other worlds we're told afford,
But which I find in this.
It is said that such “bliss” (the happiness of getting connected
to God through nature)is received only in “other worlds” (after
Death/ world beyond this physical world). Derozio thanks
Nature for receiving this illumination in this life itself.

21. My heart is bettered when I feel
That even this human heart
To all around is gently bound,
And forms of all a part;
His heart fills with happiness and is “bettered” when he feels that he is a part of Nature
and Nature is a part of him. They are “gently bound”.

22. That, cold and lifeless as they seem,
The flowers, the stars, the sky
Have more than common minds may deem
To stir our sympathy.
However lifeless and separated the flowers the stars and the sky seem,
which ordinary minds may not understand, they too have their
objectives. Nature has the purpose to “stir our
sympathy” and move our hearts.

23. Oh! in such moments can I crush
The grass beneath my feet?
Ah no; the grass has then a voice,
Its heart — I hear it beat.
The poet reaches a climax in his experience which is expressed
in the last stanza. In that moment of deep spiritual in
sight and heightened sensitivity, the poet feels that he cannot
‘crush’ the grass beneath his feet for he can ‘hear’ its heart ‘beat’.