Song
Dost thou idly ask to hearAt what gentle seasonsNymphs relent, when lovers nearPress the tenderest reasons?Ah, they give their faith too oftTo the careless wooer;Maidens' hearts are always soft:Would that men's were truer!
Woo the fair one, when aroundEarly birds are singing;When, o'er all the fragrant ground.Early herbs are springing:When the brookside, bank, and grove,All with blossoms laden,Shine with beauty, breathe of love,--Woo the timid maiden.
Woo her when, with rosy blush,Summer eve is sinking;When, on rills that softly gush,Stars are softly winking;When, through boughs that knit the bower,Moonlight gleams are stealing;Woo her, till the gentle hourWake a gentler feeling.
Woo her, when autumnal dyesTinge the woody mountain;When the dropping foliage liesIn the weedy fountain;Let the scene, that tells how fastYouth is passing over,Warn her, ere her bloom is past,To secure her lover.
Woo her, when the north winds callAt the lattice nightly;When, within the cheerful hall,Blaze the fagots brightly;While the wintry tempest roundSweeps the landscape hoary,Sweeter in her ear shall soundLove's delightful story.
Words in this poem
- relent v. i.
- To become less rigid or hard; to yield; to dissolve; to melt; to deliquesce. [F. ralentir, fr. L. pref. re- re- + ad to + lentus pliant, flexible, slow. See Lithe.]
- wooer n.
- One who wooes; one who courts or solicits in love; a suitor. [AS. wogere. See Woo, v. t.]
- brookside n.
- The bank of a brook.
- weedy a.
- Of or pertaining to weeds; consisting of weeds.
- nightly a.
- Of or pertaining to the night, or to every night; happening or done by night, or every night; as, nightly shades; he kept nightly vigils.
- wintry a.
- Suitable to winter; resembling winter, or what belongs to winter; brumal; hyemal; cold; stormy; wintery. [AS. wintrig.]
- hoary a.
- White or whitish."The hoary willows."
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
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 William Cullen Bryant, Project Gutenberg ebook #16341; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Cullen Bryant, Song, in Poems (1821–1876), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16341, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bryant-poems/song-2.html, id L07272.
Form and metre
Song is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, in 2 of the 5 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.6 syllables. 21 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 30% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
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 ABABC-C- hearA · seasonsB · nearA · reasonsB · oftC · wooer · softC · truer
- 2 ABAB-C-C aroundA · singingB · groundA · springingB · grove · ladenC · love · maidenC
- 3 ABABCDCD blushA · sinkingB · gushA · winkingB · bowerC · stealingD · hourC · feelingD
- 4 ABABC-C- dyesA · mountainB · liesA · fountainB · fastC · over · pastC · lover
- 5 ABABCDCD callA · nightlyB · hallA · brightlyB · roundC · hoaryD · soundC · storyD
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Dost thou idly ask to hear | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| At what gentle seasons | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Nymphs relent, when lovers near | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Press the tenderest reasons? | 7 | ··/˘˘/˘ |
| Ah, they give their faith too oft | 7 | ······· |
| To the careless wooer; | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Maidens' hearts are always soft: | 7 | /˘··/·· |
| Would that men's were truer! | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Woo the fair one, when around | 7 | ······· |
| Early birds are singing; | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| When, o'er all the fragrant ground. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Early herbs are springing: | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| When the brookside, bank, and grove, | 7 | ··/···· |
| All with blossoms laden, | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Shine with beauty, breathe of love,-- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Woo the timid maiden. | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Woo her when, with rosy blush, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Summer eve is sinking; | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| When, on rills that softly gush, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Stars are softly winking; | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| When, through boughs that knit the bower, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Moonlight gleams are stealing; | 6 | /···/˘ |
| Woo her, till the gentle hour | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Wake a gentler feeling. | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Woo her, when autumnal dyes | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Tinge the woody mountain; | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| When the dropping foliage lies | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| In the weedy fountain; | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Let the scene, that tells how fast | 7 | ······· |
| Youth is passing over, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Warn her, ere her bloom is past, | 7 | ······· |
| To secure her lover. | 6 | ·˘/·/˘ |
| Woo her, when the north winds call | 7 | ······· |
| At the lattice nightly; | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| When, within the cheerful hall, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Blaze the fagots brightly; | 6 | ····/˘ |
| While the wintry tempest round | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Sweeps the landscape hoary, | 6 | ··/·/˘ |
| Sweeter in her ear shall sound | 7 | /˘····· |
| Love's delightful story. | 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.