"The Starry Night" is a 1962 ekphrastic poem by Anne Sexton, written in response to Vincent Van Gogh's famous painting of the same name. Gazing into a night sky, the poem's speaker (who might be Van Gogh himself, or another speaker admiring Van Gogh's painting) desperately wants to "die," to dissolve into the starry night for good. This is a poem about both a passionate spiritual response to beauty and a longing for annihilation. At the same time, it reflects the way that art can connect struggling souls across time and space, offering company and consolation.

• Read the full text of “The Starry Night”

• “The Starry Night” Summary

• “The Starry Night” Themes

  • 

    The Release of Death

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-17
  • 

    The Power of Art

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-17

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Starry Night”

  • Before Line 1

    That does not ...
    ... to his brother

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 1-4

    The town does ...
    ... with eleven stars.   

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 5-6

    Oh starry starry ...
    ... want to die.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 7-10

    It moves. They ...
    ... up the stars.   

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 11-17

    Oh starry starry ...
    ... no cry.

    

    

    

    

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• “The Starry Night” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “The night boils with eleven stars.   ”
    • Line 8: “the moon bulges in its orange irons  ”
    • Line 10: “The old unseen serpent swallows up the stars.  ”
    • Line 13: “that rushing beast of the night, ”
    • Line 14: “sucked up by that great dragon,”
    • Lines 15-17: “no flag, / no belly, / no cry.”

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

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    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-3: “one black-haired tree slips / up like a drowned woman into the hot sky.”
    • Line 9: “to push children, like a god, from its eye.”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “The town”
    • Line 4: “The town,” “stars”
    • Line 5: “starry starry”
    • Line 10: “stars”
    • Line 11: “starry starry”

  • Refrain

    

    

    

    

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    Where refrain appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-6: “Oh starry starry night! This is how / I want to die.”
    • Lines 11-12: “Oh starry starry night! This is how    / I want to die:”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-3: “slips / up”
    • Lines 5-6: “how / I”
    • Lines 8-9: “irons    / to”
    • Lines 11-12: “how    / I”
    • Lines 14-15: “split    / from”

  • Asyndeton

    

    

    

    

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    Where asyndeton appears in the poem:

    • Lines 15-17: “no flag, / no belly, / no cry.”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “exist”
    • Line 2: “slips”
    • Line 3: “sky”
    • Line 4: “silent,” “night”
    • Line 5: “night”
    • Line 6: “I,” “die”
    • Line 7: “alive”
    • Line 8: “irons”
    • Line 9: “like,” “eye”
    • Line 12: “I,” “die”
    • Line 13: “night”
    • Line 14: “sucked up”
    • Line 15: “life”
    • Line 17: “cry”

  • Sibilance

    

    

    

    

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    Where sibilance appears in the poem:

    • Line 10: “unseen serpent swallows,” “stars”
    • Line 13: “rushing beast”
    • Line 14: “sucked,” “split”

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

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    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-4: “one black-haired tree slips / up like a drowned woman into the hot sky. / The town is silent. The night boils with eleven stars.   ”
    • Lines 8-9: “Even the moon bulges in its orange irons    / to push children, like a god, from its eye.”

• “The Starry Night” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Irons
  • (Location in poem: Line 8: “the moon bulges in its orange irons ”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Starry Night”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “The Starry Night” Speaker

• “The Starry Night” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “The Starry Night”

• More “The Starry Night” Resources

  • External Resources

    • Van Gogh's Starry Night — Learn more about the famous painting that inspired this poem.

    • A Short Biography — Learn more about Anne Sexton's life and work at the Poetry Foundation.

    • An Interview with Sexton — Watch Sexton speak in a 1973 interview.

    • The Poem Aloud — Listen to Anne Sexton reading this poem aloud.

    • Sexton's Legacy — Read about some recently rediscovered Sexton poems, and learn more about her influence on the world of poetry.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Anne Sexton

    • Her Kind

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