The Three Songs
The poet sang of a battle-fieldWhere doughty deeds were done,Where stout blows rang on helm and shieldAnd a kingdom's fate was spunWith the scarlet thread of victory,And honor from death's grim revelryLike a flame-red flower was won!So bravely he sang that all who heardWith the sting of the fight and the triumph were stirred,And they cried, "Let us blazon his name on high,He has sung a song that will never die!"
Again, full throated, he sang of fameAnd ambition's honeyed lure,Of the chaplet that garlands a mighty name,Till his listeners fired with the god-like flameTo do, to dare, to endure!The thirsty lips of the world were fainThe cup of glamor he vaunted to drain,And the people murmured as he went by,"He has sung a song that will never die!"
And once more he sang, all low and apart,A song of the love that was born in his heart,Thinking to voice in unfettered strainIts sweet delight and its sweeter pain;Nothing he cared what the throngs might sayWho passed him unheeding from day to day,For he only longed with his melodiesThe soul of the one beloved to please.
The song of war that he sang is as naught,For the field and its heroes are long forgot,And the song he sang of fame and powerWas never remembered beyond its hour!Only to-day his name is knownBy the song he sang apart and alone,And the great world pauses with joy to hearThe notes that were strung for a lover's ear.
Words in this poem
- doughty a.
- Able; strong; valiant; redoubtable; as, a doughty hero.
- bravely adv.
- In a brave manner; courageously; gallantly; valiantly; splendidly; nobly.
- blazon v. t.
- To depict in colors; to display; to exhibit conspicuously; to publish or make public far and wide. [From blazon, n.; confused with 4th blaze: cf. F. blasonner.]
- honeyed a.
- Covered with honey.
- chaplet n.
- A garland or wreath to be worn on the head. [F. chapelet, dim. of OF. chapel hat, garland, dim. fr. LL. cappa. See Cap, and cf. Chapelet, Chapeau.]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Three Songs 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, The Three Songs, in The Watchman and Other Poems (1916), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/montgomery-watchman/the-three-songs.html, id L29427.
Form and metre
The Three Songs is 36 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABBCCDD, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%).
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 ABAB--BCCDD fieldA · doneB · shieldA · spunB · victory · revelry · wonB · heardC · stirredC · highD · dieD
- 2 ABAABCCDD fameA · lureB · nameA · flameA · endureB · fainC · drainC · byD · dieD
- 3 AABBCCDD apartA · heartA · strainB · painB · sayC · dayC · melodiesD · pleaseD
- 4 AABBCCDD naughtA · forgotA · powerB · hourB · knownC · aloneC · hearD · earD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The poet sang of a battle-field | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Where doughty deeds were done, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Where stout blows rang on helm and shield | 8 | ········ |
| And a kingdom's fate was spun | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| With the scarlet thread of victory, | 9 | ··/˘··/˘˘ |
| And honor from death's grim revelry | 9 | ·/˘···/˘˘ |
| Like a flame-red flower was won! | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| So bravely he sang that all who heard | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| With the sting of the fight and the triumph were stirred, | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| And they cried, "Let us blazon his name on high, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| He has sung a song that will never die!" | 9 | ·······/· |
| Again, full throated, he sang of fame | 9 | ˘/·/˘···· |
| And ambition's honeyed lure, | 8 | ·˘/˘/˘˘· |
| Of the chaplet that garlands a mighty name, | 11 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘· |
| Till his listeners fired with the god-like flame | 10 | ··/˘/····· |
| To do, to dare, to endure! | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| The thirsty lips of the world were fain | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| The cup of glamor he vaunted to drain, | 10 | ···/˘·/˘·· |
| And the people murmured as he went by, | 10 | ··/˘/˘···· |
| "He has sung a song that will never die!" | 9 | ·······/· |
| And once more he sang, all low and apart, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| A song of the love that was born in his heart, | 11 | ··········· |
| Thinking to voice in unfettered strain | 9 | /˘···˘/˘· |
| Its sweet delight and its sweeter pain; | 9 | ··˘/··/˘· |
| Nothing he cared what the throngs might say | 9 | /˘······· |
| Who passed him unheeding from day to day, | 10 | ·········· |
| For he only longed with his melodies | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| The soul of the one beloved to please. | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
| The song of war that he sang is as naught, | 10 | ·········· |
| For the field and its heroes are long forgot, | 11 | ·····/˘··˘/ |
| And the song he sang of fame and power | 9 | ········/ |
| Was never remembered beyond its hour! | 9 | ·/˘/˘···/ |
| Only to-day his name is known | 8 | /˘······ |
| By the song he sang apart and alone, | 10 | ·····˘/·˘/ |
| And the great world pauses with joy to hear | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| The notes that were strung for a lover's ear. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
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.