Analyze "Night Sounds."

The poem is confessional, with the speaker, a woman,
baring her soul, expressing the terror that comes to her at night, and lamenting the
loss of her love and the onset of loneliness, admitting that she is altering “our
history” to justify the breakup by stating that her loved one, even when things seemed
good, was always “withholding something.” We may presume that the “you” of the poem is
the departed husband, or lover. The speaker closes with reminiscences of “lovely times”
when no was met with affirmation. In the present time, however, she contrasts her fear
with lost love, her cries with no answers, her silence with only distant voices. The
words all suggest that the speaker’s circumstances have changed, and that everything she
now experiences is “tinged” with weeping and nightmares, terror or sentimental reliving
of a better past. The use of participles indicates ongoing situations of the past and
the present. The participles “coaxing,” “withholding,” “trying,” and “feigning” are all
in the past, and these are consistent with the presently perceived imperfections in the
relationship. The participles “living” and “weeping” are descriptive of the speaker’s
present condition, both indicating the difficulties she is now
experiencing.