Laurel · Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · A Psalm of Life, and Other Poems

The Poet and His Songs

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) · 1839–1882

iambic tetrameter · ABAB · 28 lines · from A Psalm of Life, and Other Poems

As the birds come in the Spring,We know not from where;As the stars come at eveningFrom depths of the air;

As the rain comes from the cloud,And the brook from the ground;As suddenly, low or loud,Out of silence a sound;

As the grape comes to the vine,The fruit to the tree;As the wind comes to the pine,And the tide to the sea;

As come the white sails of shipsO'er the ocean's verge;As comes the smile to the lips,The foam to the surge;

So come to the Poet his songs,All hitherward blownFrom the misty realm, that belongsTo the vast unknown.

His, and not his, are the laysHe sings; and their fameIs his, and not his; and the praiseAnd the pride of a name.

For voices pursue him by day,And haunt him by night,And he listens, and needs must obey,When the Angel says: "Write!"

Words in this poem

hitherward adv.: Toward this place; hither. [AS. hiderweard.]
needs adv.: Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Poet and His Songs 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, The Poet and His Songs, in A Psalm of Life, and Other Poems (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/the-poet-and-his-songs.html, id L17813.

Form and metre

The Poet and His Songs is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.4 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

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 spring^A · where^B · evening^A · air^B
2 ABAB cloud^A · ground^B · loud^A · sound^B
3 ABAB vine^A · tree^B · pine^A · sea^B
4 ABAB ships^A · verge^B · lips^A · surge^B
5 ABAB songs^A · blown^B · belongs^A · unknown^B
6 ABAB lays^A · fame^B · praise^A · name^B
7 ABAB day^A · night^B · obey^A · write^B

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. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
As the birds come in the Spring,	7	·······
We know not from where;	5	·····
As the stars come at evening	7	·····/˘
From depths of the air;	5	·····
As the rain comes from the cloud,	7	·······
And the brook from the ground;	6	······
As suddenly, low or loud,	7	·/˘˘···
Out of silence a sound;	6	··/˘··
As the grape comes to the vine,	7	·······
The fruit to the tree;	5	·····
As the wind comes to the pine,	7	·······
And the tide to the sea;	6	······
As come the white sails of ships	7	·······
O'er the ocean's verge;	5	··/˘·
As comes the smile to the lips,	7	·······
The foam to the surge;	5	·····
So come to the Poet his songs,	8	····/˘··
All hitherward blown	5	·/˘˘·
From the misty realm, that belongs	8	··/˘··˘/
To the vast unknown.	5	···˘/
His, and not his, are the lays	7	·······
He sings; and their fame	5	·····
Is his, and not his; and the praise	8	········
And the pride of a name.	6	······
For voices pursue him by day,	8	·/˘˘/···
And haunt him by night,	5	·····
And he listens, and needs must obey,	9	··/˘···˘/
When the Angel says: "Write!"	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.

More by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Song of Hiawatha Evangeline Judas Maccabaeus Michael Angelo: A Fragment Christus: A Mystery A Psalm of Life, and Other Poems