The Thrush’s Song
“OH! bother,” sang the thrush,“I’m in an awful rush,For I’ve got to get ready for the Spring.With feathers from my breast,I’ll line a cosy nest,A terribly difficult thing!
“Before it is too late,I’ll have to find a mate,And she must be dainty and small,Obedient and sweet,In jacket brown and neat,And ready to come when I call.
“The robins are all wed(Or so I’ve heard it said),And the wind from the South it does blow.The ice has felt the sun,And winter must be done,For a primrose is growing in the snow!”
Words in this poem
- dainty n.
- Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in anything. [OE. deinie, dainte, deintie, deyntee, OF. deintié delicacy, orig., dignity, honor, fr. L. dignitas, fr. dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Dignity.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Thrush’s Song 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 Thrush’s Song, in Songs of Three Counties, and Other Poems (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #50591, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hall-three-counties/the-thrush-s-song.html, id L22693.
Form and metre
The Thrush’s Song is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABCCB. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 AABCCB thrushA · rushA · springB · breastC · nestC · thingB
- 2 AABCCB lateA · mateA · smallB · sweetC · neatC · callB
- 3 AABCCB wedA · saidA · blowB · sunC · doneC · snowB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| “OH! bother,” sang the thrush, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| “I’m in an awful rush, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| For I’ve got to get ready for the Spring. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| With feathers from my breast, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I’ll line a cosy nest, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A terribly difficult thing! | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| “Before it is too late, | 6 | ······ |
| I’ll have to find a mate, | 6 | ······ |
| And she must be dainty and small, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Obedient and sweet, | 6 | ˘/˘˘·· |
| In jacket brown and neat, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And ready to come when I call. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| “The robins are all wed | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| (Or so I’ve heard it said), | 6 | ······ |
| And the wind from the South it does blow. | 9 | ········· |
| The ice has felt the sun, | 6 | ······ |
| And winter must be done, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| For a primrose is growing in the snow!” | 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.