Windy Nights Lyrics
Whenever the wind is high, a man rides past at a gallop in the dark, and nobody says why. The twelve lines gallop too, with the word gallop turning up five times.
Windy Nights
Whenever the moon and stars are set,
Whenever the wind is high,
All night long in the dark and wet,
A man goes riding by.
Late in the night when the fires are out,
Why does he gallop and gallop about?
Whenever the trees are crying aloud,
And ships are tossed at sea,
By, on the highway, low and loud,
By at the gallop goes he.
By at the gallop he goes, and then
By he comes back at the gallop again.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/windy-nights/
- Type
- Poems for Children
- Written by
- Robert Louis Stevenson
- Tune
- Read with a galloping beat, tapping a finger on the beat
- Best for ages
- 4 to 9 years
What Does Windy Nights Mean?
On windy nights a rider goes by in the dark, again and again, and someone is awake to hear it. The poem never says who he is. Is he real, a dream, or just the wind? The poem asks "Why does he gallop and gallop about?" and never answers, which is what makes it stay in the mind. Many readers hear the rider as the wind itself, the sound of it on the road.
The poem is built to sound like hooves. Lines are short and bumpy, the word gallop returns five times, and the second verse starts four lines in a row with "By", so the rider seems to pass, turn and come back again. Reading it fast, with a beat, makes the horse feel close.
A highway here is a main road. A "tossed" ship is one thrown about by waves, which fits a storm night at sea as well as the trees "crying aloud" on land.
History and Origin
Stevenson published this night poem in 1885. His life and the nurse who looked after him are covered under The Land of Counterpane.
Learning Activities
- Hoofbeats: tap hands on knees in a galloping rhythm while an adult reads, fast for the gallop and slow when the rider is far away.
- Make the wind: blow softly, then harder, through a rolled sheet of paper, and listen to what a windy night sounds like.
- Who is the rider? let each child draw the rider, then discuss what the child thinks about the question the poem asks.
- Count the gallops: clap each time the word gallop is read and check against the page.