Songo River
Nowhere such a devious stream,Save in fancy or in dream,Winding slow through bush and brakeLinks together lake and lake.
Walled with woods or sandy shelf,Ever doubling on itselfFlows the stream, so still and slowThat it hardly seems to flow.
Never errant knight of old,Lost in woodland or on wold,Such a winding path pursuedThrough the sylvan solitude.
Never school-boy in his questAfter hazel-nut or nest,Through the forest in and outWandered loitering thus about.
In the mirror of its tideTangled thickets on each sideHang inverted, and betweenFloating cloud or sky serene.
Swift or swallow on the wingSeems the only living thing,Or the loon, that laughs and fliesDown to those reflected skies.
Silent stream! thy Indian nameUnfamiliar is to fame;For thou hidest here alone,Well content to be unknown.
But thy tranquil waters teachWisdom deep as human speech,Moving without haste or noiseIn unbroken equipoise.
Though thou turnest no busy mill,And art ever calm and still,Even thy silence seems to sayTo the traveller on his way:--
"Traveller, hurrying from the heatOf the city, stay thy feet!Rest awhile, nor longer wasteLife with inconsiderate haste!
"Be not like a stream that brawlsLoud with shallow waterfalls,But in quiet self-controlLink together soul and soul"
Words in this poem
- nowhere adv.
- Not anywhere; not in any place or state; as, the book is nowhere to be found. [AS. nahwær. See No, and Where.]
- devious a.
- Out of a straight line; winding; varying from directness; as, a devious path or way. [L. devius; de + via way. See Viaduct.]
- errant n.
- One who wanders about. Fuller.
- wold n.
- A wood; a forest. [OE. wold, wald, AS. weald, wald, a wood, forest; akin to OFries. & OS. wald, D. woud, G. wald, Icel. völlr, a field, and probably to Gr. va a garden, inclosure.]
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Songo River is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Songo River, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/songo-river.html, id L17778.
Form and metre
Songo River is 44 lines in 11 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABB. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 43% 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 AABB streamA · dreamA · brakeB · lakeB
- 2 AABB shelfA · itselfA · slowB · flowB
- 3 AABB oldA · woldA · pursuedB · solitudeB
- 4 AABB questA · nestA · outB · aboutB
- 5 AABB tideA · sideA · betweenB · sereneB
- 6 AABB wingA · thingA · fliesB · skiesB
- 7 AABB nameA · fameA · aloneB · unknownB
- 8 AABB teachA · speechA · noiseB · equipoiseB
- 9 AABB millA · stillA · sayB · wayB
- 10 AABB heatA · feetA · wasteB · hasteB
- 11 AABB brawlsA · waterfallsA · controlB · soulB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Nowhere such a devious stream, | 8 | /···/˘˘· |
| Save in fancy or in dream, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Winding slow through bush and brake | 7 | /˘····· |
| Links together lake and lake. | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Walled with woods or sandy shelf, | 8 | ·˘···/˘· |
| Ever doubling on itself | 8 | /˘/˘˘·˘/ |
| Flows the stream, so still and slow | 7 | ······· |
| That it hardly seems to flow. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Never errant knight of old, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Lost in woodland or on wold, | 7 | ··/···· |
| Such a winding path pursued | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Through the sylvan solitude. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Never school-boy in his quest | 7 | /˘····· |
| After hazel-nut or nest, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Through the forest in and out | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Wandered loitering thus about. | 8 | /˘/˘˘··· |
| In the mirror of its tide | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Tangled thickets on each side | 8 | /˘˘/˘··· |
| Hang inverted, and between | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Floating cloud or sky serene. | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Swift or swallow on the wing | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Seems the only living thing, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Or the loon, that laughs and flies | 7 | ······· |
| Down to those reflected skies. | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Silent stream! thy Indian name | 8 | /˘··/˘˘· |
| Unfamiliar is to fame; | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| For thou hidest here alone, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Well content to be unknown. | 7 | ·˘/··˘/ |
| But thy tranquil waters teach | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Wisdom deep as human speech, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Moving without haste or noise | 7 | /˘····· |
| In unbroken equipoise. | 7 | ·˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Though thou turnest no busy mill, | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| And art ever calm and still, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Even thy silence seems to say | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| To the traveller on his way:-- | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| "Traveller, hurrying from the heat | 8 | /˘/˘˘··· |
| Of the city, stay thy feet! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Rest awhile, nor longer waste | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Life with inconsiderate haste! | 8 | ········ |
| "Be not like a stream that brawls | 7 | ······· |
| Loud with shallow waterfalls, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| But in quiet self-control | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Link together soul and soul" | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
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.