My 'Longshore Lass
Far in the mellow western sky,Above the restless harbor bar,A beacon on the coast of night,Shines out a calm, white evening star;But your deep eyes, my 'longshore lass,Are brighter, clearer far.
The glory of the sunset pastStill gleams upon the water there,But all its splendor cannot matchThe wind-blown brightness of your hair;Not any sea-maid's floating locksOf gold are half so fair.
The waves are whispering to the sandsWith murmurs as of elfin glee;But your low laughter, 'longshore lass,Is like a sea-harp's melody,And the vibrant tones of your tender voiceAre sweeter far to me.
Words in this poem
- lass n.
- A youth woman; a girl; a sweetheart. [OE. lasse; prob. of Celtic origin; cf. W. llodes girl, fem. of llawd lad. (Lad a youth.]
- clearer n.
- One who, or that which, clears.
- elfin a.
- Relating to elves.
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
- vibrant a.
- Vibrating; tremulous; resonant; as, vibrant drums. [L. vibrans, p. pr.: cf. F. vibrant. See Vibrate.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
My 'Longshore Lass is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Watchman and Other Poems (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1917; Toronto: McClelland, Goodchild and Stewart, 1916), Internet Archive; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: L. M. Montgomery, My 'Longshore Lass, in The Watchman and Other Poems (1916), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/montgomery-watchman/my-longshore-lass.html, id L29374.
Form and metre
My 'Longshore Lass is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 -A-A-A sky · barA · night · starA · lass · farA
- 2 -A-A-A past · thereA · match · hairA · locks · fairA
- 3 -A---A sands · gleeA · lass · melody · voice · meA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Far in the mellow western sky, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Above the restless harbor bar, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| A beacon on the coast of night, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Shines out a calm, white evening star; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But your deep eyes, my 'longshore lass, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Are brighter, clearer far. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| The glory of the sunset past | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| Still gleams upon the water there, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But all its splendor cannot match | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The wind-blown brightness of your hair; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Not any sea-maid's floating locks | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Of gold are half so fair. | 6 | ······ |
| The waves are whispering to the sands | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With murmurs as of elfin glee; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But your low laughter, 'longshore lass, | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| Is like a sea-harp's melody, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| And the vibrant tones of your tender voice | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| Are sweeter far to me. | 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.