The Song of the Watcher
AT the early break of day,When the river mists grow pink,And the moon begins to sink,Down along the southern way;When the gold mimosa treeRustles low and pleasantly,To the little singing birdThat within her heart has stirred;I, the watcher at the window,Thank the gods who made dawn lovely,By creating you for me!
When the stately night steps down,Silent footed, from the west,With the moon against her breastFolded in her cloudy gown;When the endless, sighing seaStretches to eternity,Yearning for the pale-eyed star,Long beloved, and yet so far;I, the watcher at the window,Thank the gods who made night lovely,By creating you for me!
Words in this poem
- mimosa n.
- A genus of leguminous plants, containing many species, and including the sensitive plants (Mimosa sensitiva, and M. pudica). [NL., fr. Gr. Mime.]
- pleasantly adv.
- In a pleasant manner.
- watcher n.
- One who watches; one who sits up or continues; a diligent observer; specifically, one who attends upon the sick during the night.
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Song of the Watcher is in the public domain. This text is taken from Songs of Three Counties, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #50591; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Radclyffe Hall, The Song of the Watcher, in Songs of Three Counties, and Other Poems (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #50591, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hall-three-counties/the-song-of-the-watcher.html, id L22684.
Form and metre
The Song of the Watcher is 22 lines in 2 stanzas of 11 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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 ABBAC-DD--C dayA · pinkB · sinkB · wayA · treeC · pleasantly · birdD · stirredD · window · lovely · meC
- 2 ABBAC-DD--C downA · westB · breastB · gownA · seaC · eternity · starD · farD · window · lovely · meC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AT the early break of day, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| When the river mists grow pink, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And the moon begins to sink, | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Down along the southern way; | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| When the gold mimosa tree | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Rustles low and pleasantly, | 7 | /˘··/˘˘ |
| To the little singing bird | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| That within her heart has stirred; | 8 | ·······˘ |
| I, the watcher at the window, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Thank the gods who made dawn lovely, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| By creating you for me! | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| When the stately night steps down, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Silent footed, from the west, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| With the moon against her breast | 7 | ······· |
| Folded in her cloudy gown; | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| When the endless, sighing sea | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Stretches to eternity, | 7 | /˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Yearning for the pale-eyed star, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Long beloved, and yet so far; | 8 | ·˘/˘···· |
| I, the watcher at the window, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Thank the gods who made night lovely, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| By creating you for me! | 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.