Song at Morning
PRAISE for the day’s magnificent uprising!Praise for the coolAir and the blue new-old ever-surprisingFace of the sky, and mirrored blue of the pool.Only the fool, bat-witted, owl-eyed foolCan hold a deaf ear while life beginsThe actual opening of a myriad stories....Blindness, ingratitude, the foolishest sins!Now if this day blot out my chief desires,And leave me maimed and blind and full of hotSurges of insurrection, evil fires,Memories of joys that seem better forgot;Quiet me then.Thy Will is binding on the nearest flowerAs on the farthest star; and what shall put meOut of Thy power, or from Thy guidance far,Though I in hell of my self-will would shut me?But if Thy Will be joy for me to-day,Give me clear eyes, a heart open to feelThy influence, Thy kindness: O unsealThe shut, the hidden places in me, revealThose things most precious secretly hidden awayFrom all save children and the simply wise.Give me clear eyes!And strength to know, whatever may befall,The eternal presence of great mysteries,Glorifying Thee for all.
Words in this poem
- uprising n.
- Act of rising; also, a steep place; an ascent.
- myriad n.
- The number of ten thousand; ten thousand persons or things. [Gr. myriade.]
- ingratitude n.
- Want of gratitude; insensibility to, forgetfulness of, or ill return for, kindness or favors received; unthankfulness; ungratefulness. [F. ingratitude, L. ingratitudo. See Ingrate.]
- 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,]
- unseal v. t.
- To break or remove the seal of; to open, as what is sealed; as, to unseal a letter. [1st pref. un- + seal.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song at Morning is in the public domain. This text is taken from Severn & Somme, Project Gutenberg ebook #63895; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ivor Gurney, Song at Morning, in Severn and Somme (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #63895, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gurney-severn-somme/song-at-morning.html, id L02581.
Form and metre
Song at Morning is 27 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.6 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 41% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABABBC-CDEDE--F-FGHHHGIIJIJ uprisingA · coolB · surprisingA · poolB · foolB · beginsC · stories · sinsC · desiresD · hotE · firesD · forgotE · then · flower · meF · far · meF · dayG · feelH · unsealH · revealH · awayG · wiseI · eyesI · befallJ · mysteriesI · allJ
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| PRAISE for the day’s magnificent uprising! | 11 | ····˘/˘˘˘/˘ |
| Praise for the cool | 4 | ···· |
| Air and the blue new-old ever-surprising | 11 | ······/˘˘/˘ |
| Face of the sky, and mirrored blue of the pool. | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| Only the fool, bat-witted, owl-eyed fool | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Can hold a deaf ear while life begins | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| The actual opening of a myriad stories.... | 11 | ·/˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Blindness, ingratitude, the foolishest sins! | 10 | /˘˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| Now if this day blot out my chief desires, | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| And leave me maimed and blind and full of hot | 10 | ·········· |
| Surges of insurrection, evil fires, | 11 | /˘··˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Memories of joys that seem better forgot; | 10 | /˘····/˘˘/ |
| Quiet me then. | 4 | /˘·· |
| Thy Will is binding on the nearest flower | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| As on the farthest star; and what shall put me | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| Out of Thy power, or from Thy guidance far, | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Though I in hell of my self-will would shut me? | 11 | ··········· |
| But if Thy Will be joy for me to-day, | 10 | ·········· |
| Give me clear eyes, a heart open to feel | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| Thy influence, Thy kindness: O unseal | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘·˘/ |
| The shut, the hidden places in me, reveal | 11 | ···/˘/˘··˘/ |
| Those things most precious secretly hidden away | 11 | ···/˘/˘/˘˘/ |
| From all save children and the simply wise. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Give me clear eyes! | 4 | ···· |
| And strength to know, whatever may befall, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| The eternal presence of great mysteries, | 11 | ·˘/˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| Glorifying Thee for all. | 7 | /˘·˘··· |
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.