Nanine
We heard a song-bird trilling--'T was but a night ago.Such rapture he was rillingAs only we could know.
This morning he is flingingHis music from the tree,But something in the singingIs not the same to me.
His inspiration fails him,Or he has lost his skill.Nanine, Nanine, what ails himThat he should sing so ill?
Nanine is not replying--She hears no earthly song.The sun and bird are lyingAnd the night is, O, so long!
Words in this poem
- trilling n.
- One of tree children born at the same birth. Wright. [Cf. G. drilling.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Nanine is in the public domain. This text is taken from Shapes of Clay (1903), Project Gutenberg ebook #12658; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ambrose Bierce, Nanine, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/nanine.html, id L28021.
Form and metre
Nanine is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%).
See other poems in common measure.
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.
- 1 ABAB trillingA · agoB · rillingA · knowB
- 2 ABAB flingingA · treeB · singingA · meB
- 3 ABAB himA · skillB · himA · illB
- 4 ABAB replyingA · songB · lyingA · longB
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| We heard a song-bird trilling-- | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| 'T was but a night ago. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Such rapture he was rilling | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| As only we could know. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| This morning he is flinging | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| His music from the tree, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But something in the singing | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Is not the same to me. | 6 | ······ |
| His inspiration fails him, | 7 | ··˘/˘·· |
| Or he has lost his skill. | 6 | ······ |
| Nanine, Nanine, what ails him | 7 | ······· |
| That he should sing so ill? | 6 | ······ |
| Nanine is not replying-- | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| She hears no earthly song. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The sun and bird are lying | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And the night is, O, so long! | 7 | ······· |
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.