Sylvia Sings
Sylvia said that day,“I’ll sing if you will play.”We could deny not anything,Not even deny to hear her singWho like a little spirit layUncertain whether to flutter its wing,To go or stay.
So though it broke our hearts for pity,With hidden face one wentTo the tinkling instrument,And one with bended headStayed by the bed,While the small voice sang over and over its ditty:--
“‘Manners make ladies, but not such as these,Manners make ladies, but not such as these.’Now again, please!‘Manners make ladies--But not such as these.’”
She breathed it long and longAnd ah, so low,Her tiny meaningless song,For she was pleased to please us so--But what we saidSitting beside her bedI do not know,There were so many tears to keep unshed.
Words in this poem
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- stayed a.
- Staid; fixed; settled; sober; -- now written staid. See Staid.
- ditty n.
- A saying or utterance; especially, one that is short and frequently repeated; a theme. [OE. dite, OF. ditié, fr. L. dictatum, p. p. neut. of dictare to say often, dictate, compose. See Dictate, v. t.]
- unshed a.
- Not parted or divided, as the hair.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sylvia Sings is in the public domain. This text is taken from Sonnets and Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #56244; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Eleanor Farjeon, Sylvia Sings, in Sonnets and Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56244, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/farjeon-sonnets-poems/sylvia-sings.html, id L21970.
Form and metre
Sylvia Sings is 26 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 54% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABBABA dayA · playA · anythingB · singB · layA · wingB · stayA
- 2 ABBCCA pityA · wentB · instrumentB · headC · bedC · dittyA
- 3 AAAAA theseA · theseA · pleaseA · ladiesA · theseA
- 4 ABABCCB- longA · lowB · songA · soB · saidC · bedC · knowB · unshed
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sylvia said that day, | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| “I’ll sing if you will play.” | 6 | ······ |
| We could deny not anything, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Not even deny to hear her sing | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| Who like a little spirit lay | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Uncertain whether to flutter its wing, | 10 | ˘/˘···/˘·· |
| To go or stay. | 4 | ···· |
| So though it broke our hearts for pity, | 9 | ····/··/˘ |
| With hidden face one went | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| To the tinkling instrument, | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘˘ |
| And one with bended head | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Stayed by the bed, | 4 | ···· |
| While the small voice sang over and over its ditty:-- | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| “‘Manners make ladies, but not such as these, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Manners make ladies, but not such as these.’ | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Now again, please! | 4 | ·˘/· |
| ‘Manners make ladies-- | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| But not such as these.’” | 5 | ····· |
| She breathed it long and long | 7 | ··˘···· |
| And ah, so low, | 4 | ···· |
| Her tiny meaningless song, | 7 | ·/˘/˘˘· |
| For she was pleased to please us so-- | 8 | ········ |
| But what we said | 4 | ···· |
| Sitting beside her bed | 6 | /˘·/·· |
| I do not know, | 4 | ···· |
| There were so many tears to keep unshed. | 9 | ···/···˘/ |
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.