“Der Abend Ist Der Beste”
THE morning hours are joyful fair,With call of bird and scent of dew;And blent with shining gold and blueAnd glad the summer noontides are;The slow sun lingering seeks the west,As loath to leave and grieve so soonThe long and fragrant afternoon;But still the evening is the best.
Day may be full as day may be,—Her hands all heaped with gifts, her eyesAlight with joyful prophecies;But still we turn where wistfullyThe veilèd evening, dimly fair,Stands in the shadow without speech,And holds her one gift out to each,—Her gift of rest, for all to share.
Ah! sweetly falls the sunset glowOn silver hairs, all peaceful bentTo catch the last rays, and contentTo watch the twilight softly grow;Content to face the night and keepThe peaceful vigil of the eve,And like a little child to breatheA “Now I lay me down to sleep.”
Ah, close of life! Ah, close of day!Which thinks of morn without regret;Which thinks of busy noon, and yetGrieves not to put its toils away;Which, calmed with thoughts of coming rest,Watches the sweet, still evening fade,Counting its hours all unafraid,—Surely the evening is the best.
Words in this poem
- blent p. p.
- Blinded. Also (Chaucer), 3d sing. pres. Blindeth.
- loath a.
- Hateful; odious; disliked. [OE. looth, loth, AS. la hostile, odious; akin to OS. l, G. leid, Icel. lei, Sw. led, G. leiden to suffer, OHG. lidan to suffer, go, cf. AS. li to go, Goth. leip]
- afternoon n.
- The part of the day which follows noon, between noon and evening.
- dimly adv.
- In a dim or obscure manner; not brightly or clearly; with imperfect sight.
- vigil n.
- Abstinence from sleep, whether at a time when sleep is customary or not; the act of keeping awake, or the state of being awake, or the state of being awake; sleeplessness; wakefulness; watch. [OE. vigile, L. vigilia, from vigil awake, watchful, probably akin to E. wake: cf. F. vigile. See Wake, v. i., and cf. Reveille, Surveillance, Vedette, Vegetable]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
“Der Abend Ist Der Beste” is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Few More Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #49518; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Susan Coolidge, “Der Abend Ist Der Beste”, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/der-abend-ist-der-beste.html, id L23445.
Form and metre
“Der Abend Ist Der Beste” is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in iambic 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 -AA-BCCB fair · dewA · blueA · are · westB · soonC · afternoonC · bestB
- 2 -AA-BCCB be · eyesA · propheciesA · wistfully · fairB · speechC · eachC · shareB
- 3 ABBAC--C glowA · bentB · contentB · growA · keepC · eve · breathe · sleepC
- 4 ABBACDDC dayA · regretB · yetB · awayA · restC · fadeD · unafraidD · bestC
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| THE morning hours are joyful fair, | 8 | ·/˘/·/˘· |
| With call of bird and scent of dew; | 8 | ········ |
| And blent with shining gold and blue | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And glad the summer noontides are; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The slow sun lingering seeks the west, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As loath to leave and grieve so soon | 8 | ········ |
| The long and fragrant afternoon; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| But still the evening is the best. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Day may be full as day may be,— | 8 | ········ |
| Her hands all heaped with gifts, her eyes | 8 | ········ |
| Alight with joyful prophecies; | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘˘ |
| But still we turn where wistfully | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| The veilèd evening, dimly fair, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Stands in the shadow without speech, | 8 | ···/···· |
| And holds her one gift out to each,— | 8 | ········ |
| Her gift of rest, for all to share. | 8 | ········ |
| Ah! sweetly falls the sunset glow | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| On silver hairs, all peaceful bent | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To catch the last rays, and content | 8 | ······/˘ |
| To watch the twilight softly grow; | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| Content to face the night and keep | 8 | /˘······ |
| The peaceful vigil of the eve, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And like a little child to breathe | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A “Now I lay me down to sleep.” | 8 | ········ |
| Ah, close of life! Ah, close of day! | 8 | ········ |
| Which thinks of morn without regret; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Which thinks of busy noon, and yet | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Grieves not to put its toils away; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Which, calmed with thoughts of coming rest, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Watches the sweet, still evening fade, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Counting its hours all unafraid,— | 8 | /˘·/··˘/ |
| Surely the evening is the best. | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
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