Song
TWO wedded lovers watched the rising moon,That with her strange mysterious beauty glowing,Over misty hills and waters flowing,Crowned the long twilight loveliness of June:And thus in me, and thus in me, they spake,The solemn secret of fist love did wake.
Above the hills the blushing orb arose;Her shape encircled by a radiant bower,In which the nightingale with charméd powerPoured forth enchantment o’er the dark repose:And thus in me, and thus in me, they said,Earth’s mists did with the sweet new spirit wed.
Far up the sky with ever purer beam,Upon the throne of night the moon was seated,And down the valley glens the shades retreated,And silver light was on the open stream.And thus in me, and thus in me, they sighed,Aspiring Love has hallowed Passion’s tide.
I CANNOT lose thee for a day,But like a bird with restless wingMy heart will find thee far away,And on thy bosom fall and sing,My nest is here, my rest is here;—And in the lull of wind and rain,Fresh voices make a sweet refrain,‘His rest is there, his nest is there.’
With thee the wind and sky are fair,But parted, both are strange and dark;And treacherous the quiet airThat holds me singing like a lark,O shield my love, strong arm above!Till in the hush of wind and rain,Fresh voices make a rich refrain,‘The arm above will shield thy love.’
Words in this poem
- wedded a.
- Joined in wedlock; married.
- loveliness n.
- The state or quality of being lovely. [From Lovely.]
- aspiring a.
- That aspires; as, an Aspiring mind.
- lull v. t.
- To cause to rest by soothing influences; to compose; to calm; to soothe; to quiet. [Akin to OD. lullen to sing to sleep, G. lullen, Dan. lulle, Sw. lulla; all of imitative origin. Cf. Loll, Lollard.]
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-8.html, id L18591.
Form and metre
Song is 34 lines in 5 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABBACC, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.2 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 9% 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 ABBACC moonA · glowingB · flowingB · juneA · spakeC · wakeC
- 2 ABBACC aroseA · bowerB · powerB · reposeA · saidC · wedC
- 3 ABBACC beamA · seatedB · retreatedB · streamA · sighedC · tideC
- 4 ABABCDDC dayA · wingB · awayA · singB · hereC · rainD · refrainD · thereC
- 5 ABABCDDC fairA · darkB · airA · larkB · aboveC · rainD · refrainD · loveC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| TWO wedded lovers watched the rising moon, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| That with her strange mysterious beauty glowing, | 11 | ····˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Over misty hills and waters flowing, | 10 | ··/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Crowned the long twilight loveliness of June: | 10 | ···/·/˘˘·· |
| And thus in me, and thus in me, they spake, | 10 | ·········· |
| The solemn secret of fist love did wake. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Above the hills the blushing orb arose; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Her shape encircled by a radiant bower, | 11 | ··˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| In which the nightingale with charméd power | 10 | ···/˘˘··/˘ |
| Poured forth enchantment o’er the dark repose: | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| And thus in me, and thus in me, they said, | 10 | ·········· |
| Earth’s mists did with the sweet new spirit wed. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Far up the sky with ever purer beam, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Upon the throne of night the moon was seated, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| And down the valley glens the shades retreated, | 11 | ···/˘···˘/˘ |
| And silver light was on the open stream. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| And thus in me, and thus in me, they sighed, | 10 | ·········· |
| Aspiring Love has hallowed Passion’s tide. | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| I CANNOT lose thee for a day, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But like a bird with restless wing | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| My heart will find thee far away, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And on thy bosom fall and sing, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| My nest is here, my rest is here;— | 8 | ········ |
| And in the lull of wind and rain, | 8 | ········ |
| Fresh voices make a sweet refrain, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| ‘His rest is there, his nest is there.’ | 8 | ········ |
| With thee the wind and sky are fair, | 8 | ········ |
| But parted, both are strange and dark; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And treacherous the quiet air | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| That holds me singing like a lark, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| O shield my love, strong arm above! | 8 | ········ |
| Till in the hush of wind and rain, | 8 | ········ |
| Fresh voices make a rich refrain, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| ‘The arm above will shield thy love.’ | 8 | ········ |
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.