Serenade
When the voice of thy lute at the eveCharmeth the ear,In the hour of enchantment believeWhat I murmur near.That the tune can the Age of GoldWith its magic restore.Play on, play on, my fair one,Play on for evermore.
When thy laugh like the song of the dawnRiseth so gayThat the shadows of Night are withdrawnAnd melt away,I remember my years of careAnd misgiving no more.Laugh on, laugh on, my fair one,Laugh on for evermore.
When thy sleep like the moonlight aboveLulling the sea,Doth enwind thee in visions of love,Perchance, of me!I can watch so in dream that enthralled me,Never before!Sleep on, sleep on, my fair one!Sleep on for evermore.
Words in this poem
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
- misgiving n.
- Evil premonition; doubt; distrust.
- enwind v. t.
- To wind about; to encircle.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Serenade is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, the various hands translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Victor Hugo, Serenade, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/serenade.html, id L26860.
Form and metre
Serenade is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
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 ABAB-C-C eveA · earB · believeA · nearB · gold · restoreC · one · evermoreC
- 2 ABAB-C-C dawnA · gayB · withdrawnA · awayB · care · moreC · one · evermoreC
- 3 ABABBC-C aboveA · seaB · loveA · meB · meB · beforeC · one · evermoreC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When the voice of thy lute at the eve | 9 | ········· |
| Charmeth the ear, | 4 | /˘·· |
| In the hour of enchantment believe | 10 | ··/˘·˘/˘˘/ |
| What I murmur near. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| That the tune can the Age of Gold | 8 | ········ |
| With its magic restore. | 6 | ··/˘˘/ |
| Play on, play on, my fair one, | 7 | ······· |
| Play on for evermore. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| When thy laugh like the song of the dawn | 9 | ········· |
| Riseth so gay | 4 | ···· |
| That the shadows of Night are withdrawn | 9 | ··/····˘/ |
| And melt away, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| I remember my years of care | 8 | ·˘/˘···· |
| And misgiving no more. | 6 | ·˘/˘·· |
| Laugh on, laugh on, my fair one, | 7 | ······· |
| Laugh on for evermore. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| When thy sleep like the moonlight above | 9 | ·····/··· |
| Lulling the sea, | 4 | /˘·· |
| Doth enwind thee in visions of love, | 9 | ·˘/··/˘·· |
| Perchance, of me! | 4 | ˘/·· |
| I can watch so in dream that enthralled me, | 10 | ·······˘/· |
| Never before! | 4 | /˘·· |
| Sleep on, sleep on, my fair one! | 7 | ······· |
| Sleep on for evermore. | 6 | ···/˘· |
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.