Chanson Sans Paroles
In the deep violet air,Not a leaf is stirred;There is no sound heard,But afar, the rareTrilled voice of a bird.
Is the wood's dim heart,And the fragrant pine,Incense, and a shrineOf her coming? Apart,I wait for a sign.
What the sudden hush said,She will hear, and forsake,Swift, for my sake,Her green, grassy bed:She will hear and awake!
She will hearken and glide,From her place of deep rest,Dove-eyed, with the breastOf a dove, to my side:The pines bow their crest.
I wait for a sign:The leaves to be waved,The tall tree-tops lavedIn a flood of sunshine,This world to be saved!
In the deep violet air,Not a leaf is stirred;There is no sound heard,But afar, the rareTrilled voice of a bird.
Words in this poem
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chanson Sans Paroles is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems and Prose of Ernest Dowson, With a Memoir by Arthur Symons, Project Gutenberg ebook #8497; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ernest Dowson, Chanson Sans Paroles, in The Poems of Ernest Dowson (1896–1899), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8497, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dowson-poems/chanson-sans-paroles.html, id L01657.
Form and metre
Chanson Sans Paroles is 30 lines in 6 stanzas of 5 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBAB. The metre is anapaestic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.4 syllables. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in anapaestic dimeter.
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 ABBAB airA · stirredB · heardB · rareA · birdB
- 2 ABBAB heartA · pineB · shrineB · apartA · signB
- 3 ABBAB saidA · forsakeB · sakeB · bedA · awakeB
- 4 ABBAB glideA · restB · breastB · sideA · crestB
- 5 ABBAB signA · wavedB · lavedB · sunshineA · savedB
- 6 ABBAB airA · stirredB · heardB · rareA · birdB
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 anapaestic dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In the deep violet air, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Not a leaf is stirred; | 5 | ····· |
| There is no sound heard, | 5 | ····· |
| But afar, the rare | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| Trilled voice of a bird. | 5 | ····· |
| Is the wood's dim heart, | 5 | ····· |
| And the fragrant pine, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Incense, and a shrine | 5 | ˘/··· |
| Of her coming? Apart, | 6 | ··/˘˘/ |
| I wait for a sign. | 5 | ····· |
| What the sudden hush said, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| She will hear, and forsake, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Swift, for my sake, | 4 | ···· |
| Her green, grassy bed: | 5 | ··/˘· |
| She will hear and awake! | 6 | ····˘/ |
| She will hearken and glide, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| From her place of deep rest, | 6 | ······ |
| Dove-eyed, with the breast | 5 | ····· |
| Of a dove, to my side: | 6 | ······ |
| The pines bow their crest. | 5 | ····· |
| I wait for a sign: | 5 | ····· |
| The leaves to be waved, | 5 | ····· |
| The tall tree-tops laved | 5 | ····· |
| In a flood of sunshine, | 6 | ····/· |
| This world to be saved! | 5 | ····· |
| In the deep violet air, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Not a leaf is stirred; | 5 | ····· |
| There is no sound heard, | 5 | ····· |
| But afar, the rare | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| Trilled voice of a bird. | 5 | ····· |
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.