For the Drama of "The Spy"
The harp of love, when first I heardIts song beneath the moonlight tree,Was echoed by his plighted word,And ah, how dear its song to me;But wail'd the hour will ever beWhen to the air the bugle gave,To hush love's gentle minstrelsy,The wild war music of the brave.For he hath heard its song, and nowIts voice is sweeter than mine own;And he hath broke the plighted vowHe breathed to me and love alone.That harp hath lost its wonted tone,No more its strings his fingers move,Oh would that he had only knownThe music of the harp of love.
Words in this poem
- minstrelsy n.
- The arts and occupation of minstrels; the singing and playing of a minstrel.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- wonted a.
- Accustomed; customary; usual.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
For the Drama of "The Spy" is in the public domain. This text is taken from Fanny, with Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #34762; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Fitz-Greene Halleck, For the Drama of "The Spy", in Fanny, with Other Poems (1819–1827), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #34762, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/halleck-fanny/for-the-drama-of-the-spy.html, id L10271.
Form and metre
For the Drama of "The Spy" is 16 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 31% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 ABABBC-CDEDEEFEF heardA · treeB · wordA · meB · beB · gaveC · minstrelsy · braveC · nowD · ownE · vowD · aloneE · toneE · moveF · knownE · loveF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The harp of love, when first I heard | 8 | ········ |
| Its song beneath the moonlight tree, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Was echoed by his plighted word, | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| And ah, how dear its song to me; | 8 | ········ |
| But wail'd the hour will ever be | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| When to the air the bugle gave, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To hush love's gentle minstrelsy, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| The wild war music of the brave. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For he hath heard its song, and now | 8 | ········ |
| Its voice is sweeter than mine own; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And he hath broke the plighted vow | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He breathed to me and love alone. | 9 | ··˘····˘/ |
| That harp hath lost its wonted tone, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| No more its strings his fingers move, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Oh would that he had only known | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The music of the harp of love. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
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.