A Song of Sherwood
Sherwood in the twilight, is Robin Hood awake?Grey and ghostly shadows are gliding through the brake,Shadows of the dappled deer, dreaming of the morn,Dreaming of a shadowy man that winds a shadowy horn.
Robin Hood is here again: all his merry thievesHear a ghostly bugle-note shivering through the leaves,Calling as he used to call, faint and far away,In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.
Merry, merry England has kissed the lips of June:All the wings of fairyland were here beneath the moon,Like a flight of rose-leaves fluttering in a mistOf opal and ruby and pearl and amethyst.
Merry, merry England is waking as of old,With eyes of blither hazel and hair of brighter gold:For Robin Hood is here again beneath the bursting sprayIn Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.
Love is in the greenwood building him a houseOf wild rose and hawthorn and honeysuckle boughs:Love is in the greenwood, dawn is in the skies,And Marian is waiting with a glory in her eyes.
Hark! The dazzled laverock climbs the golden steep!Marian is waiting: is Robin Hood asleep?Round the fairy grass-rings frolic elf and fay,In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.
Oberon, Oberon, rake away the gold,Rake away the red leaves, roll away the mould,Rake away the gold leaves, roll away the red,And wake Will Scarlett from his leafy forest bed.
Friar Tuck and Little John are riding down togetherWith quarter-staff and drinking-can and grey goose-feather.The dead are coming back again, the years are rolled awayIn Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.
Softly over Sherwood the south wind blows.All the heart of England hid in every roseHears across the greenwood the sunny whisper leap,Sherwood in the red dawn, is Robin Hood asleep?
Hark, the voice of England wakes him as of oldAnd, shattering the silence with a cry of brighter goldBugles in the greenwood echo from the steep,Sherwood in the red dawn, is Robin Hood asleep?
Where the deer are gliding down the shadowy glenAll across the glades of fern he calls his merry men--Doublets of the Lincoln green glancing through the MayIn Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day--
Calls them and they answer: from aisles of oak and ashRings the Follow! Follow! and the boughs begin to crash,The ferns begin to flutter and the flowers begin to fly,And through the crimson dawning the robber band goes by.
Robin! Robin! Robin! All his merry thievesAnswer as the bugle-note shivers through the leaves,Calling as he used to call, faint and far away,In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.
Words in this poem
- ghostly a.
- Relating to the soul; not carnal or secular; spiritual; as, a ghostly confessor. [OE. gastlich, gostlich, AS. gastlic. See Ghost.]
- dappled a.
- Marked with spots of different shades of color; spotted; variegated; as, a dapple horse.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- fairyland n.
- The imaginary land or abode of fairies.
- amethyst
- A variety of crystallized quartz, of a purple or bluish violet color, of different shades. It is much used as a jeweler's stone. [F. ametiste, amatiste, F. améthyste, L. amethystus, fr. Gr. Mead.]
- greenwood n.
- A forest as it appears is spring and summer.
- marian a.
- Pertaining to the Virgin Mary, or sometimes to Mary, Queen of England, daughter of Henry VIII.
- laverock n.
- The lark. [Old Eng. & Scot.] Gower. [See Lark the bird.]
- oberon n.
- The king of the fairies, and husband of Titania or Queen Mab. [F., fr. OF. Auberon; prob. of Frankish origin.]
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
- scarlett n.
- A deep bright red tinged with orange or yellow, -- of many tints and shades; a vivid or bright red color. [OE. scarlat, scarlet, OF. escarlate, F. écarlate (cf. Pr. escarlat, escarlata, Sp. & Pg. escarlata, It. scarlatto, LL. scarlatum), from Per. sakirlat.]
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- glancing a.
- Shooting, as light.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Song of Sherwood is in the public domain. This text is taken from Collected Poems: Volume One, Project Gutenberg ebook #30501; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Alfred Noyes, A Song of Sherwood, in Collected Poems, Volume One (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #30501, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/noyes-collected/a-song-of-sherwood.html, id L21412.
Form and metre
A Song of Sherwood is 52 lines in 13 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 12 of its 13 stanzas. The metre is trochaic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%).
See other poems in trochaic hexameter.
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 AABB awakeA · brakeA · mornB · hornB
- 2 AABB thievesA · leavesA · awayB · dayB
- 3 AABB juneA · moonA · mistB · amethystB
- 4 AABB oldA · goldA · sprayB · dayB
- 5 --AA house · boughs · skiesA · eyesA
- 6 AABB steepA · asleepA · fayB · dayB
- 7 AABB goldA · mouldA · redB · bedB
- 8 AABB togetherA · featherA · awayB · dayB
- 9 AABB blowsA · roseA · leapB · asleepB
- 10 AABB oldA · goldA · steepB · asleepB
- 11 AABB glenA · menA · mayB · dayB
- 12 AABB ashA · crashA · flyB · byB
- 13 AABB thievesA · leavesA · awayB · dayB
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 hexameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Sherwood in the twilight, is Robin Hood awake? | 12 | /···/··/˘·˘/ |
| Grey and ghostly shadows are gliding through the brake, | 12 | ··/˘/··/˘··· |
| Shadows of the dappled deer, dreaming of the morn, | 12 | /····˘·/˘··· |
| Dreaming of a shadowy man that winds a shadowy horn. | 13 | /˘··/˘····/˘· |
| Robin Hood is here again: all his merry thieves | 12 | /˘···˘/··/˘· |
| Hear a ghostly bugle-note shivering through the leaves, | 12 | ··/˘/˘·/˘··· |
| Calling as he used to call, faint and far away, | 12 | /˘········˘/ |
| In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day. | 12 | ·/··/······· |
| Merry, merry England has kissed the lips of June: | 12 | /˘/˘/˘······ |
| All the wings of fairyland were here beneath the moon, | 13 | ····/˘······· |
| Like a flight of rose-leaves fluttering in a mist | 12 | ······/˘˘··· |
| Of opal and ruby and pearl and amethyst. | 12 | ·/˘·/˘···/˘˘ |
| Merry, merry England is waking as of old, | 12 | /˘/˘/˘·/˘··· |
| With eyes of blither hazel and hair of brighter gold: | 12 | ·····/˘···/· |
| For Robin Hood is here again beneath the bursting spray | 14 | ·/˘···˘/···/˘· |
| In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day. | 12 | ·/··/······· |
| Love is in the greenwood building him a house | 11 | ····/·/˘··· |
| Of wild rose and hawthorn and honeysuckle boughs: | 12 | ····/··/˘·˘· |
| Love is in the greenwood, dawn is in the skies, | 11 | ····/······ |
| And Marian is waiting with a glory in her eyes. | 13 | ·/˘·/˘··/˘··· |
| Hark! The dazzled laverock climbs the golden steep! | 12 | ··/˘/˘˘··/˘· |
| Marian is waiting: is Robin Hood asleep? | 12 | /˘˘·/˘·/˘·˘/ |
| Round the fairy grass-rings frolic elf and fay, | 11 | ··/˘··/˘··· |
| In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day. | 12 | ·/··/······· |
| Oberon, Oberon, rake away the gold, | 11 | /˘·/˘··˘/·· |
| Rake away the red leaves, roll away the mould, | 11 | ·˘/····˘/·· |
| Rake away the gold leaves, roll away the red, | 11 | ·˘/····˘/·· |
| And wake Will Scarlett from his leafy forest bed. | 12 | ···/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Friar Tuck and Little John are riding down together | 13 | /··/˘··/˘·˘/˘ |
| With quarter-staff and drinking-can and grey goose-feather. | 13 | ·/˘··/˘····/˘ |
| The dead are coming back again, the years are rolled away | 14 | ···/˘·˘/····˘/ |
| In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day. | 12 | ·/··/······· |
| Softly over Sherwood the south wind blows. | 10 | /˘··/····· |
| All the heart of England hid in every rose | 12 | ····/˘··/˘˘· |
| Hears across the greenwood the sunny whisper leap, | 12 | ·˘/·/··/˘/˘· |
| Sherwood in the red dawn, is Robin Hood asleep? | 12 | /······/˘·˘/ |
| Hark, the voice of England wakes him as of old | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| And, shattering the silence with a cry of brighter gold | 12 | ·/˘·/˘····/· |
| Bugles in the greenwood echo from the steep, | 11 | /˘··/·/˘··· |
| Sherwood in the red dawn, is Robin Hood asleep? | 12 | /······/˘·˘/ |
| Where the deer are gliding down the shadowy glen | 12 | ····/˘··/˘˘· |
| All across the glades of fern he calls his merry men-- | 13 | ·˘/·······/˘· |
| Doublets of the Lincoln green glancing through the May | 12 | /˘··/˘·/˘··· |
| In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day-- | 12 | ·/··/······· |
| Calls them and they answer: from aisles of oak and ash | 12 | ····/˘······ |
| Rings the Follow! Follow! and the boughs begin to crash, | 13 | ··/˘/˘···˘/·· |
| The ferns begin to flutter and the flowers begin to fly, | 14 | ··˘/·/˘··/˘/·· |
| And through the crimson dawning the robber band goes by. | 13 | ···/˘/˘·/˘··· |
| Robin! Robin! Robin! All his merry thieves | 11 | /˘/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Answer as the bugle-note shivers through the leaves, | 12 | /˘··/˘·/˘··· |
| Calling as he used to call, faint and far away, | 12 | /˘········˘/ |
| In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day. | 12 | ·/··/······· |
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.