To W. B
FROM the brake the NightingaleSings exulting to the Rose;Though he sees her waxing paleIn her passionate repose,While she triumphs waxing frail,Fading even while she glows;Though he knowsHow it goes—Knows of last year’s NightingaleDead with last year’s Rose.
Wise the enamoured Nightingale,Wise the well-belovèd Rose!Love and life shall still prevail,Nor the silence at the closeBreak the magic of the taleIn the telling, though it shows—Who but knowsHow it goes!—Life a last year’s Nightingale,Love a last year’s Rose.
Words in this poem
- exulting a.
- Rejoicing triumphantly or exceedingly; exultant.
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To W. B is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #1568; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: W. E. Henley, To W. B, in Poems (1898), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1568, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/henley-poems/to-w-b.html, id L12428.
Form and metre
To W. B is 20 lines in 2 stanzas of 10 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABCBCBBBAB. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.0 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 35% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABCBCBBBAB nightingaleA · roseB · paleC · reposeB · frailC · glowsB · knowsB · goesB · nightingaleA · roseB
- 2 ABCBCBBBAB nightingaleA · roseB · prevailC · closeB · taleC · showsB · knowsB · goesB · nightingaleA · roseB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| FROM the brake the Nightingale | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Sings exulting to the Rose; | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Though he sees her waxing pale | 7 | ····/˘· |
| In her passionate repose, | 7 | ··/˘˘˘/ |
| While she triumphs waxing frail, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Fading even while she glows; | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Though he knows | 3 | ··· |
| How it goes— | 3 | ··· |
| Knows of last year’s Nightingale | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Dead with last year’s Rose. | 5 | ····· |
| Wise the enamoured Nightingale, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Wise the well-belovèd Rose! | 6 | ······ |
| Love and life shall still prevail, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Nor the silence at the close | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Break the magic of the tale | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| In the telling, though it shows— | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Who but knows | 3 | ··· |
| How it goes!— | 3 | ··· |
| Life a last year’s Nightingale, | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Love a last year’s Rose. | 5 | ····· |
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.