Song of the Middle World
I want falling light and an evening sky,I want to sing my songs low crooning to the moon.I want men silent and the creeping grace of old gods in their hearts.I want night, soft darkness and damp smellsWhen my songs sing.
From the Allegheny Mountains where the mine fires flare,To the low hills of Nebraska where my farmers dwell,Let my songs sweep forth.Let gods listen and let men stand up.Let my songs sing.
Great cradle-land of giants where my cornfields lie,Let me cradle my men,Let me cradle my men.Let the factories close and the voices die.Let me sing now.
I have been to the Dakotas when the fields were plowed.I have stood by the Ohio when the dawn broke forth.Promise of corn,Promise of corn,Long aisles running into the dawn and beyondTo the throne of gods.
I want falling light and an evening sky,I want to sing my songs low crooning to the moon.I want to bring gods home to sweating men in corn-rows and in shopsWhen my songs sing.
Words in this poem
- allegheny a.
- Of or pertaining to the Allegheny Mountains, or the region where they are situated. Also Al"le*gha`ny.
- flare v. i.
- To burn with an unsteady or waving flame; as, the candle flares. [Cf. Norw. flara to blaze, flame, adorn with tinsel, dial. Sw. flasa upp, and E. flash, or flacker.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- dakotas n.
- An extensive race or stock of Indians, including many tribes, mostly dwelling west of the Mississippi River; -- also, in part, called Sioux. [Written also Dacotahs.]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song of the Middle World is in the public domain. This text is taken from Mid-American Chants (New York: John Lane Company; London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1918), Internet Archive; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Sherwood Anderson, Song of the Middle World, in Mid-American Chants (1918), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/anderson-mid-american-chants/song-of-the-middle-world.html, id L29466.
Form and metre
Song of the Middle World is 25 lines in 5 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 3 ABBA- lieA · menB · menB · dieA · now
- 4 --AA-- plowed · forth · cornA · cornA · beyond · gods
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I want falling light and an evening sky, | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| I want to sing my songs low crooning to the moon. | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| I want men silent and the creeping grace of old gods in their hearts. | 16 | ···/˘··/˘······· |
| I want night, soft darkness and damp smells | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| When my songs sing. | 4 | ···· |
| From the Allegheny Mountains where the mine fires flare, | 14 | ···˘/˘/˘···/˘· |
| To the low hills of Nebraska where my farmers dwell, | 13 | ·····˘/˘··/˘· |
| Let my songs sweep forth. | 5 | ····· |
| Let gods listen and let men stand up. | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Let my songs sing. | 4 | ···· |
| Great cradle-land of giants where my cornfields lie, | 12 | ·/˘··/˘··//· |
| Let me cradle my men, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Let me cradle my men. | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Let the factories close and the voices die. | 11 | ··/˘˘···/˘· |
| Let me sing now. | 4 | ···· |
| I have been to the Dakotas when the fields were plowed. | 13 | ·····˘/˘····· |
| I have stood by the Ohio when the dawn broke forth. | 13 | ·····˘/˘····· |
| Promise of corn, | 4 | /˘·· |
| Promise of corn, | 4 | /˘·· |
| Long aisles running into the dawn and beyond | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| To the throne of gods. | 5 | ····· |
| I want falling light and an evening sky, | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| I want to sing my songs low crooning to the moon. | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| I want to bring gods home to sweating men in corn-rows and in shops | 16 | ·······/˘······· |
| When my songs sing. | 4 | ···· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.