Being Brave at Night Poem

Being Brave at Night is a beautiful poem about kids' fears and how to deal with them. The speaker of this poem is a child who challenges stereotypes. He is not embarrassed, stiff or brave. The child knows how to cope with the situation that makes him scared. Once in bed, he suddenly saw an elephant after him. The next night, he saw a  giant with three faces splitting fire, which scared him. Later in another incident, he met with a group of ghosts. However, each time he held emotional reactions that threatened him.

In the article, we will go through how the kid tackled the imaginary fears through the being brave at night poem summary. We will discuss how to be brave at night.

Being Brave At Night Lyrics

- By Edgar Albert Guest

Being Brave at Night Poem

The other night 'about two o'clock, or maybe it was three,

An elephant with shining tusks came chasing after me.

His trunk was wavin' in the air an'  spoutin' jets of steam

An' he was out to eat me up, but still I didn't scream

Or let him see that I was scared - a better thought I had,

I just escaped from where I was and crawled in bed with Dad.

One time there was a giant who was horrible to see,

He had three heads and twenty arms, an' he came after me

And red hot fire came from his mouths and every hand was red

And he declared he'd grind my bones and make them into bread.

But I was just too smart for him, I fooled him mighty bad,

Before his hands could collar me I crawled in bed with Dad.

I ain't scared of nothin' that comes pestering' me at night.

Once I was chased by forty ghosts all shimmery and' white.

An' I just raced 'em round the room an' let 'em think maybe

I'd have to stop and' rest awhile, when they could capture me.

Then when they leapt onto my bed, Oh Gee! But they were mad

To find that I had slipped away and crawled in bed with Dad.

No giants, ghosts or elephants have dared to come in there

'Coz if they did he'd beat 'em up and chase 'em to their lair.

They just hang 'round the children's rooms

an' snap and' snarl and' bite

An' laugh if they can make 'em yell

for help with all their might.

But I don't ever yell out loud. I'm not that sort of lad,

I slip from out the covers and I crawl in bed with Dad.

Meaning of the Poem

Edgar Albert Guest's poem "Being Brave at Night'' is a lighthearted look at the courage it takes to face the darkness. This poem tells us what does the child do each time he feels scared at night. The speaker is a child trying to be brave in the face of the "black and scary" night.

To find courage, the child looks at the stars and the moon for guidance. The child eventually falls asleep, safe and sound, in his bed with his father. The poem conveys that being brave at night is not that hard. It was late at night when the child had imaginary visions once a big elephant with shining tusks came near him and tried to haunt him with fear.

It was about to gobble him up. He was too scared of this, but his fear didn't make room in his mind, and he escaped and ran back to bed with his father. The other day he saw a dangerous giant with many hands and legs and fire coming out of his mouth and he promised he would crush his bones and muscles. The child says he was too brave to face him and too wise to fool him; he escaped from there and ran to his bed with his father.

After some days, he saw a group of ghosts all shimmery. They were running here and there to catch me but I slipped away and escaped. The poet conveys that no one can scare him be it elephants, giants or ghosts. The child says he is very brave enough to handle such nights of fear. He says he is not a boy who yells and shouts on such dark nights. Perhaps, he has the superpower to face all kinds of situations, light or dark.

The Theme of the Poem

Lyrics of the Poem

Through the poem, the speaker advises children to be calm as they have illusions of some creatures at midnight. The characters that they see in their dreams or imaginations come across the cartoons, and books they go through during the day. Children have the ability to escape from any kind of fear because they enjoy their living wholeheartedly. 

Being Brave at Night Poem Summary 

The Being Brave at Night PDF poem is all about facing our fears with guts. No matter what age you are, the night can be an anxious time. For some people, the darkness magnifies everything they are afraid of. For others, the darkness is a time to escape from reality. Regardless of why you may be scared at night, there are things you can do to make it a little less scary.

The speaker describes how children get scared of their own illusions and how they can keep calm and handle these enormous situations wisely. We hope you enjoyed reading this poem.