Song
COME to me in any shape!As a victor crown’d with vine,In thy curls the clustering grape,—Or a vanquished slave:’Tis thy coming that I crave,And thy folding serpent twine,Close and dumb;Ne’er from that would I escape;Come to me in any shape!Only come!
Only come, and in my breastHide thy shame or show thy pride;In my bosom be caressed,Never more to part;Come into my yearning heart;I, the serpent, golden-eyed,Twine round thee;Twine thee with no venomed test;Absence makes the venomed nest;Come to me!
Come to me, my lover, come!Violets on the tender stemDie and wither in their bloom,Under dewy grass;Come, my lover, or, alas!I shall die, shall die like them,Frail and lone;Come to me, my lover, come!Let thy bosom be my tomb:Come, my own!
Words in this poem
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
- 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,]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
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-9.html, id L18593.
Form and metre
Song is 30 lines in 3 stanzas of 10 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABACCBDAAD, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.1 syllables. 7% 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 ABACCBDAAD shapeA · vineB · grapeA · slaveC · craveC · twineB · dumbD · escapeA · shapeA · comeD
- 2 ABACCBDAAD breastA · prideB · caressedA · partC · heartC · eyedB · theeD · testA · nestA · meD
- 3 AABCCADABD comeA · stemA · bloomB · grassC · alasC · themA · loneD · comeA · tombB · ownD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| COME to me in any shape! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| As a victor crown’d with vine, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| In thy curls the clustering grape,— | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| Or a vanquished slave: | 5 | ··/˘· |
| ’Tis thy coming that I crave, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And thy folding serpent twine, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Close and dumb; | 3 | ··· |
| Ne’er from that would I escape; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Come to me in any shape! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Only come! | 3 | /˘· |
| Only come, and in my breast | 7 | /˘····· |
| Hide thy shame or show thy pride; | 7 | ······· |
| In my bosom be caressed, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Never more to part; | 5 | /˘··· |
| Come into my yearning heart; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| I, the serpent, golden-eyed, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Twine round thee; | 3 | ··· |
| Twine thee with no venomed test; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Absence makes the venomed nest; | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Come to me! | 3 | ··· |
| Come to me, my lover, come! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Violets on the tender stem | 8 | /˘˘··/˘· |
| Die and wither in their bloom, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Under dewy grass; | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Come, my lover, or, alas! | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| I shall die, shall die like them, | 7 | ······· |
| Frail and lone; | 3 | ··· |
| Come to me, my lover, come! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Let thy bosom be my tomb: | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Come, my own! | 3 | ··· |
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.