Song
The linnet in the rocky dells,The moor-lark in the air,The bee among the heather bellsThat hide my lady fair:
The wild deer browse above her breast;The wild birds raise their brood;And they, her smiles of love caressed,Have left her solitude!
I ween, that when the grave's dark wallDid first her form retain,They thought their hearts could ne'er recallThe light of joy again.
They thought the tide of grief would flowUnchecked through future years;But where is all their anguish now,And where are all their tears?
Well, let them fight for honour's breath,Or pleasure's shade pursue--The dweller in the land of deathIs changed and careless too.
And, if their eyes should watch and weepTill sorrow's source were dry,She would not, in her tranquil sleep,Return a single sigh!
Blow, west-wind, by the lonely mound,And murmur, summer-streams--There is no need of other soundTo soothe my lady's dreams.
Words in this poem
- ween v. i.
- To think; to imagine; to fancy. [OE. wenen, AS. w, fr. w hope, expectation, opinion; akin to D. waan, OFries. w, OS. & OHG. wan, G. wahn delusion, Icel. van hope, expectation, Goth. w, and D. w]
- soothe v. t.
- To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, Project Gutenberg ebook #1019; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë, Song, in Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (1846), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1019, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bronte-poems/song.html, id L13236.
Form and metre
Song is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 6 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 dellsA · airB · bellsA · fairB
- 2 ABAB breastA · broodB · caressedA · solitudeB
- 3 ABAB wallA · retainB · recallA · againB
- 4 -A-A flow · yearsA · now · tearsA
- 5 ABAB breathA · pursueB · deathA · tooB
- 6 ABAB weepA · dryB · sleepA · sighB
- 7 ABAB moundA · streamsB · soundA · dreamsB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The linnet in the rocky dells, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The moor-lark in the air, | 6 | ······ |
| The bee among the heather bells | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That hide my lady fair: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The wild deer browse above her breast; | 8 | ········ |
| The wild birds raise their brood; | 6 | ······ |
| And they, her smiles of love caressed, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Have left her solitude! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I ween, that when the grave's dark wall | 8 | ········ |
| Did first her form retain, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| They thought their hearts could ne'er recall | 8 | ······/· |
| The light of joy again. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| They thought the tide of grief would flow | 8 | ········ |
| Unchecked through future years; | 7 | ˘/˘·/˘· |
| But where is all their anguish now, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And where are all their tears? | 6 | ······ |
| Well, let them fight for honour's breath, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or pleasure's shade pursue-- | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| The dweller in the land of death | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Is changed and careless too. | 7 | ··˘·/˘· |
| And, if their eyes should watch and weep | 8 | ········ |
| Till sorrow's source were dry, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| She would not, in her tranquil sleep, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Return a single sigh! | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Blow, west-wind, by the lonely mound, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And murmur, summer-streams-- | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| There is no need of other sound | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To soothe my lady's dreams. | 6 | ···/˘· |
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.