The Song of the Shepherds
It was near the first cock-crowing,And Orion’s wheel was going,When an angel stood before us and our hearts were sore afraid.Lo, his face was like the lightning,When the walls of heaven are whitening,And he brought us wondrous tidings of a joy that shall not fade.
Then a Splendor shone around us,In the still field where he found us,A-watch upon the Shepherd Tower and waiting for the light;There where David as a stripling,Saw the ewes and lambs go ripplingDown the little hills and hollows at the falling of the night.
Oh, what tender, sudden facesFilled the old familiar places,The barley-fields where Ruth of old went gleaning with the birds!Down the skies the host came swirling,Like sea-waters white and whirling,And our hearts were strangely shaken by the wonder of their words.
Haste, O people: all are bidden—Haste from places, high or hidden:In Mary’s Child the Kingdom comes, the heaven in beauty bends!He has made all life completer:He has made the Plain Way sweeter,For the stall is His first shelter and the cattle His first friends.
He has come! the skies are telling:He has quit the glorious dwelling;And first the tidings came to us, the humble shepherd folk.He has come to field and manger,And no more is God a Stranger:He comes as Common Man at home with cart and crookèd yoke.
As the shadow of a cedarTo a traveller in gray KedarWill be the kingdom of His love, the kingdom without end.Tongues and Ages may disclaim Him,Yet the Heaven of heavens will name HimLord of peoples, Light of nations, elder Brother, tender Friend.
Words in this poem
- whitening n.
- The act or process of making or becoming white.
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- stripling n.
- A youth in the state of adolescence, or just passing from boyhood to manhood; a lad. [Dim. of strip; as if a small strip from the main stock or steam.]
- ruth n.
- Sorrow for the misery of another; pity; tenderness. [From Rue, v.: cf. Icel. hryggedh, hrygedh.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- gleaning n.
- The act of gathering after reapers; that which is collected by gleaning.
- strangely adv.
- As something foreign, or not one's own; in a manner adapted to something foreign and strange.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- manger n.
- A trough or open box in which fodder is placed for horses or cattle to eat. [F. mangeoire, fr. manger to eat, fr. L. manducare, fr. mandere to chew. Cf. Mandible, Manducate.]
- disclaim v. t.
- To renounce all claim to deny; ownership of, or responsibility for; to disown; to disavow; to reject.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Song of the Shepherds is in the public domain. This text is taken from Lincoln & other poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #54527; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edwin Markham, The Song of the Shepherds, in Lincoln and Other Poems (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54527, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/markham-lincoln/the-song-of-the-shepherds.html, id L10823.
Form and metre
The Song of the Shepherds is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.4 syllables. 19 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 AABCCB crowingA · goingA · afraidB · lightningC · whiteningC · fadeB
- 2 AABCCB usA · usA · lightB · striplingC · ripplingC · nightB
- 3 AABCCB facesA · placesA · birdsB · swirlingC · whirlingC · wordsB
- 4 --ABBA bidden · hidden · bendsA · completerB · sweeterB · friendsA
- 5 AABCCB tellingA · dwellingA · folkB · mangerC · strangerC · yokeB
- 6 AABCCB cedarA · kedarA · endB · himC · himC · friendB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| It was near the first cock-crowing, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And Orion’s wheel was going, | 8 | ·˘/˘··/˘ |
| When an angel stood before us and our hearts were sore afraid. | 15 | ··/˘·····/···˘/ |
| Lo, his face was like the lightning, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| When the walls of heaven are whitening, | 10 | ····/˘·/˘˘ |
| And he brought us wondrous tidings of a joy that shall not fade. | 15 | ····/˘/˘······· |
| Then a Splendor shone around us, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| In the still field where he found us, | 8 | ········ |
| A-watch upon the Shepherd Tower and waiting for the light; | 14 | ·····/˘/·/˘··· |
| There where David as a stripling, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Saw the ewes and lambs go rippling | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| Down the little hills and hollows at the falling of the night. | 15 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| Oh, what tender, sudden faces | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Filled the old familiar places, | 9 | ·˘··˘/˘/˘ |
| The barley-fields where Ruth of old went gleaning with the birds! | 14 | ·/˘······/˘··· |
| Down the skies the host came swirling, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Like sea-waters white and whirling, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| And our hearts were strangely shaken by the wonder of their words. | 15 | ·/··/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Haste, O people: all are bidden— | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Haste from places, high or hidden: | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| In Mary’s Child the Kingdom comes, the heaven in beauty bends! | 14 | ·/˘··/˘··/·/˘· |
| He has made all life completer: | 8 | ········ |
| He has made the Plain Way sweeter, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| For the stall is His first shelter and the cattle His first friends. | 15 | ······/˘··/˘··· |
| He has come! the skies are telling: | 8 | ······/˘ |
| He has quit the glorious dwelling; | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| And first the tidings came to us, the humble shepherd folk. | 14 | ···/˘····/˘/˘· |
| He has come to field and manger, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And no more is God a Stranger: | 8 | ······/˘ |
| He comes as Common Man at home with cart and crookèd yoke. | 13 | ···/˘········ |
| As the shadow of a cedar | 8 | ··/···/˘ |
| To a traveller in gray Kedar | 9 | ··/˘˘··/˘ |
| Will be the kingdom of His love, the kingdom without end. | 14 | ···/˘····/˘··· |
| Tongues and Ages may disclaim Him, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
| Yet the Heaven of heavens will name Him | 10 | ··/˘·/˘··· |
| Lord of peoples, Light of nations, elder Brother, tender Friend. | 15 | ··/˘··/˘/˘/˘/˘· |
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