Song of Love
If there be a velvet swardBy dewdrops pearly drest,Where through all seasons fairies guardFlowers by bees carest,Where one may gather, day and night,Roses, honeysuckle, lily white,I fain would make of it a siteFor thy foot to rest.
If there be a loving heartWhere Honor rules the breast,Loyal and true in every part,That changes ne'er molest,Eager to run its noble race,Intent to do some work of grace,I fain would make of it a placeFor thy brow to rest.
And if there be of love a dreamRose-scented as the west,Which shows, each time it comes, a gleam,--A something sweet and blest,--A dream of which heaven is the pole,A dream that mingles soul and soul,I fain of it would make the goalWhere thy mind should rest.
Words in this poem
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- molest v. t.
- To trouble; to disturb; to render uneasy; to interfere with; to vex. [F. molester, L. molestare, fr. molestus troublesome, fr. moles a heavy mass, load, burden. See 3d Mole.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song of Love 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, Song of Love, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/song-of-love.html, id L26760.
Form and metre
Song of Love is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCCCB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 ABABCCCB swardA · drestB · guardA · carestB · nightC · whiteC · siteC · restB
- 2 ABABCCCB heartA · breastB · partA · molestB · raceC · graceC · placeC · restB
- 3 ABABCCCB dreamA · westB · gleamA · blestB · poleC · soulC · goalC · restB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If there be a velvet sward | 7 | ····/˘· |
| By dewdrops pearly drest, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Where through all seasons fairies guard | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Flowers by bees carest, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Where one may gather, day and night, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Roses, honeysuckle, lily white, | 9 | /˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| I fain would make of it a site | 8 | ········ |
| For thy foot to rest. | 5 | ····· |
| If there be a loving heart | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Where Honor rules the breast, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Loyal and true in every part, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| That changes ne'er molest, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Eager to run its noble race, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Intent to do some work of grace, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| I fain would make of it a place | 8 | ········ |
| For thy brow to rest. | 5 | ····· |
| And if there be of love a dream | 8 | ········ |
| Rose-scented as the west, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Which shows, each time it comes, a gleam,-- | 8 | ········ |
| A something sweet and blest,-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A dream of which heaven is the pole, | 8 | ····/··· |
| A dream that mingles soul and soul, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I fain of it would make the goal | 8 | ········ |
| Where thy mind should rest. | 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.