The End of the Song
What dainty note of long-drawn melodyAthwart our dreamless sleep rings sweet and clear,Till all the fumes of slumber are brushed by,
And with awakened consciousness we hearThe pipe of birds? Look forth! The sane, white dayBlesses the hilltops, and the sun is near.
All misty phantoms slowly roll awayWith the night's vapors toward the western sky.The Real enchants us, the fresh breath of hay
Blows toward us; soft the meadow-grasses lie,Bearded with dew; the air is a caress;The sudden sun o'ertops the boundary
Of eastern hills, the morning joyousnessThrills tingling through the frame; life's pulse beats strong;Night's fancies melt like dew. So ends the song!
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.]
- dreamless a.
- Free from, or without, dreams. Camden.
- sane a.
- Being in a healthy condition; not deranged; acting rationally; -- said of the mind. [L. sanus; cf. Gr. Sound, a.]
- caress n.
- An act of endearment; any act or expression of affection; an embracing, or touching, with tenderness. [F. caresse, It. carezza, LL. caritia dearness, fr. L. carus dear. See Charity.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The End of the Song is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Emma Lazarus, Volume 1, Project Gutenberg ebook #3295; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Emma Lazarus, The End of the Song, in Admetus, and Other Poems (1867–1887), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3295, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lazarus-poems/the-end-of-the-song.html, id L01895.
Form and metre
The End of the Song is 15 lines in 5 stanzas of 3 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 47% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 -AB melody · clearA · byB
- 2 ACA hearA · dayC · nearA
- 3 CBC awayC · skyB · hayC
- 4 B-- lieB · caress · boundary
- 5 -DD joyousness · strongD · songD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| What dainty note of long-drawn melody | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| Athwart our dreamless sleep rings sweet and clear, | 10 | ˘///˘····· |
| Till all the fumes of slumber are brushed by, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And with awakened consciousness we hear | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘˘·· |
| The pipe of birds? Look forth! The sane, white day | 10 | ·········· |
| Blesses the hilltops, and the sun is near. | 10 | /˘·/······ |
| All misty phantoms slowly roll away | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| With the night's vapors toward the western sky. | 11 | ···/˘···/˘· |
| The Real enchants us, the fresh breath of hay | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Blows toward us; soft the meadow-grasses lie, | 11 | ······/·/˘· |
| Bearded with dew; the air is a caress; | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| The sudden sun o'ertops the boundary | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| Of eastern hills, the morning joyousness | 9 | ·/˘··/˘·· |
| Thrills tingling through the frame; life's pulse beats strong; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Night's fancies melt like dew. So ends the song! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
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.