"Night Poem" is consoling the child not to fear the darkness by using personification of the thunder (your father) and the rain ( your mother).  She goes on to describe the wilderness of northern Quebec where she spent her childhood.  The long birds that swim... referring to the Canada goose. " Your shadow is not your shadow but your reflection" shows that there is a loss of identity; the reflection is not clear.

The second two stanzas of the poem take on a more sinister tone.  The true parents have said good  night and disappeared.  The child sleeps tended to by these dark, shadowy figures.  "We have come to cover you with red wool, with our tears and distant whispers..." is a line using the imagery of parents tucking in the child, but it also reminds us of a burial ceremony. The flag of Canada is red wool.

"You rock in the rain's arms, the chilly ark of your sleep ...."  The night mother and father are only shadows thrown by one candle represents the child's experience tonight.  The images of cold hands and a dead flashlight are very chilling ones and a portent of the future. " In this echo you will hear twenty years later" possibly refers to death.

Anonymous

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Hey... I was wondering if anybody knows any margaret atwood poems...and if they can help me find out the meaning (significance) of her poems.

I am specifically looking at her poem "night".

Please help!
THANKS

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