Song
UNDER boughs of breathing May,In the mild spring-time I lay,Lonely, for I had no love;And the sweet birds all sang for pity,Cuckoo, lark, and dove.
Tell me, cuckoo, then I cried,Dare I woo and wed a bride?I, like thee, have no home-nest;And the twin notes thus tuned their ditty,—‘Love can answer best.’
Nor, warm dove with tender coo,Have I thy soft voice to woo,Even were a damsel by;And the deep woodland crooned its ditty,—‘Love her first and try.’
Nor have I, wild lark, thy wing,That from bluest heaven can bringBliss, whatever fate befall;And the sky-lyrist trilled this ditty,—‘Love will give thee all.’
So it chanced while June was young,Wooing well with fervent song,I had won a damsel coy;And the sweet birds that sang for pity,Jubileed for joy.
Words in this poem
- ditty n.
- A saying or utterance; especially, one that is short and frequently repeated; a theme. [OE. dite, OF. ditié, fr. L. dictatum, p. p. neut. of dictare to say often, dictate, compose. See Dictate, v. t.]
- damsel n.
- A young person, either male or female, of noble or gentle extraction; as, Damsel Pepin; Damsel Richard, Prince of Wales. [OE. damosel, damesel, damisel, damsel, fr. OF. damoisele, damisele, gentlewoman, F. demoiselle young lady; cf. OF. damoisel young nobleman, F. damoiseau; fr. LL]
- fervent a.
- Hot; glowing; boiling; burning; as, a fervent summer. [F. fervent, L. fervens, -entis. p.pr. of fervere o the boiling hot, to boil, glow.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems — Volume 1, Project Gutenberg ebook #1381; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: George Meredith, Song, in Poems, Volume I (1851–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1381, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/meredith-poems/song-4.html, id L13150.
Form and metre
Song is 25 lines in 5 stanzas of 5 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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 AABCB mayA · layA · loveB · pityC · doveB
- 2 DDECE criedD · brideD · nestE · dittyC · bestE
- 3 FFG-G cooF · wooF · byG · ditty · tryG
- 4 HHIJI wingH · bringH · befallI · dittyJ · allI
- 5 --KJK young · song · coyK · pityJ · joyK
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 |
|---|---|---|
| UNDER boughs of breathing May, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| In the mild spring-time I lay, | 7 | ······· |
| Lonely, for I had no love; | 7 | /˘····· |
| And the sweet birds all sang for pity, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Cuckoo, lark, and dove. | 5 | /···· |
| Tell me, cuckoo, then I cried, | 7 | ··/···· |
| Dare I woo and wed a bride? | 7 | ······· |
| I, like thee, have no home-nest; | 7 | ······· |
| And the twin notes thus tuned their ditty,— | 10 | ······˘·/˘ |
| ‘Love can answer best.’ | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Nor, warm dove with tender coo, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Have I thy soft voice to woo, | 7 | ······· |
| Even were a damsel by; | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| And the deep woodland crooned its ditty,— | 10 | ···/˘·˘·/˘ |
| ‘Love her first and try.’ | 5 | ····· |
| Nor have I, wild lark, thy wing, | 7 | ······· |
| That from bluest heaven can bring | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| Bliss, whatever fate befall; | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| And the sky-lyrist trilled this ditty,— | 10 | ···/˘·˘·/˘ |
| ‘Love will give thee all.’ | 5 | ····· |
| So it chanced while June was young, | 7 | ······· |
| Wooing well with fervent song, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| I had won a damsel coy; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And the sweet birds that sang for pity, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Jubileed for joy. | 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.