Street Cries
When dawn's first cymbals beat upon the sky,Rousing the world to labour's various cry,To tend the flock, to bind the mellowing grain,From ardent toil to forge a little gain,And fasting men go forth on hurrying feet,BUY BREAD, BUY BREAD, rings down the eager street.
When the earth falters and the waters swoonWith the implacable radiance of noon,And in dim shelters koils hush their notes,And the faint, thirsting blood in languid throatsCraves liquid succour from the cruel heat,BUY FRUIT, BUY FRUIT, steals down the panting street.
When twilight twinkling o'er the gay bazaars,Unfurls a sudden canopy of stars,When lutes are strung and fragrant torches litOn white roof-terraces where lovers sitDrinking together of life's poignant sweet,BUY FLOWERS, BUY FLOWERS, floats down the singing street.
Words in this poem
- succour v. t.
- tiono run to, or run to support; hence, to help or relieve when in difficulty, want, or distress; to assist and deliver from suffering; to relieve; as, to succor a besieged city. [OE. socouren, OF. sucurre, soucourre, secorre, F. secourir, L. succurrere, succursum, to run under, run to the aid of, help, succor; sub under + currere to run.]
- twinkling n.
- The act of one who, or of that which, twinkles; a quick movement of the eye; a wink; a twinkle. Holland.
- poignant a.
- Pricking; piercing; sharp; pungent. [F., p. pr. of poindre to sting, fr. L. pungere to prick, sting. See Pungent.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Street Cries is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Golden Threshold, with an introduction by Arthur Symons (Hyderabad, 1905; London, John Lane, 1905), Project Gutenberg ebook #680; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Sarojini Naidu, Street Cries, in The Golden Threshold (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #680, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/naidu-golden-threshold/street-cries.html, id L27511.
Form and metre
Street Cries is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABBCC. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
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 AABBCC skyA · cryA · grainB · gainB · feetC · streetC
- 2 AABBCC swoonA · noonA · notesB · throatsB · heatC · streetC
- 3 AABBCC bazaarsA · starsA · litB · sitB · sweetC · streetC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When dawn's first cymbals beat upon the sky, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Rousing the world to labour's various cry, | 10 | /˘···/·/˘· |
| To tend the flock, to bind the mellowing grain, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| From ardent toil to forge a little gain, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| And fasting men go forth on hurrying feet, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| BUY BREAD, BUY BREAD, rings down the eager street. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| When the earth falters and the waters swoon | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| With the implacable radiance of noon, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘˘·· |
| And in dim shelters koils hush their notes, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| And the faint, thirsting blood in languid throats | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Craves liquid succour from the cruel heat, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| BUY FRUIT, BUY FRUIT, steals down the panting street. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| When twilight twinkling o'er the gay bazaars, | 10 | ·/·/˘···˘/ |
| Unfurls a sudden canopy of stars, | 10 | ˘/·/˘/˘˘·· |
| When lutes are strung and fragrant torches lit | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| On white roof-terraces where lovers sit | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| Drinking together of life's poignant sweet, | 10 | /˘˘/˘··/˘· |
| BUY FLOWERS, BUY FLOWERS, floats down the singing street. | 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.