3 min read

She Called Me Night (full poem)

She Called Me Night (full poem)
Photo by Ryan Holloway on Unsplash

A new sonnet rhyming structure is born with the advent of the real-life characters Night and Luna

In November 2019, I published a double couplet on my Facebook page.

It was an instant hit with people around the world, significantly boosting my social media presence to over 500,000 followers.

At times, the poetic piece—which my fans perceived as a complete poem—surprisingly gained a life of its own.

Many of my fans expressed a desire to read a novel about the two main characters, Night and Luna. Some even went as far as wanting to see their remarkable story unfold on the big screen, witnessing their love blossom before their eyes.

The original four-line poem inspired millions of people worldwide, making them believe in the existence of romantic love. People from various countries, including the Philippines, Nepal, Nigeria, and the United States, read the original, scaled-down version of the poem.

I came across this through reading their comments, observing their post shares, and receiving numerous direct messages filled with their appreciation and accolades.

By also checking my page insights on Facebook, I discovered that the double couplet has garnered over 100 million views to date. In 2020, it had the potential to be the most read poem on the Internet, surpassing 20 million views that very year alone.

Even with the initial success of the double couplet, I felt unsatisfied. There had to be more depth and substance to the poem.

In secret, I composed the remainder of the poem, which is a sonnet, if you will.

Although the complete She Called Me Night poem consists of 14 lines, it deviates from the rigid rhyming pattern of conventional sonnets. Instead, I introduced a more flexible rhyming scheme (ABCD AEFD GHIJ KJ) and divided it into multiple verses.

In my opinion, this looser structure enhances the reader’s engagement with the poem. By employing rhyme less frequently, the poem allows for a deeper emotional connection. However, it maintains enough rhyme to create a rhythmic flow and build tension around the meter.

There are 99 syllables in the poem, comprising 82 words. The syllable count for each line is as follows:

  • Stanza 1: 4 syllables, 7 syllables, 7 syllables, 8 syllables
  • Stanza 2: 8 syllables, 8 syllables, 7 syllables, 8 syllables
  • Stanza 3: 7 syllables, 8 syllables, 7 syllables, 7 syllables
  • Stanza 4: 7 syllables, 6 syllables

The poem employs three primary types of iambic meter, primarily: iambic tetrameter (the most common), iambic trimeter (the next most common), and iambic petrameter (the least common). The iambic count per line is as follows:

  • 0 5 3 5 / 4 3 4 4 / 4 4 5 3 / 4 1

Of course, all of this is intentional. However, the initial draft of the poem underwent several revisions to achieve the desired flow and rhyme for the final product. One that I, as the poet, am more satisfied with, and I hope you, as the reader, are too.

Now, without any further delay, here is the complete text of the poem:

She called me Night
Because I loved the darkness
And I nicknamed her Luna
Because she reflected the sun
And by the nature of her light
Did I find the beauty of love
And with a promise of hope
Among the sky, I found the one
She was neither here, nor there
But in the crescent of my heart
Where heartbreak is but a myth
Forged stars, gorgeous and vast
And surely, I tell you this —
Our love is built to last

Full poem of ‘She Called Me Night’ by Alexander Bentley
Full poem of ‘She Called Me Night’ by Alexander Bentley