A Song of Two Burdens
The round brown sails were reefed and struggling homeOver the glitter and gloom of the angry deep:Dark in the cottage she sang, "Soon, soon, he will come,Dreamikin, Drowsy-head, sleep, my little one, sleep."
Over the glitter and gloom of the angry deepWas it only a dream or a shadow that vanished away?"Lullaby, little one, sleep, my little one, sleep."She sang in a dream as the shadows covered the day.
Was it only a sail or a shadow that vanished away?The boats come home: there is one that will never return;But she sang in a dream as the shadows buried the day;And she set the supper and begged the fire to burn.
The boats come home; but one will never return;And a strangled cry went up from the struggling sea.She sank on her knees and begged the fire to burn,"Burn, oh burn, for my love is coming to me!"
A strangled cry went up from the struggling sea,A cry where the ghastly surf to the moon-dawn rolled;"Burn, oh burn; for my love is coming to me,His hands will be scarred with the ropes and starved with the cold."
A strangled cry where the foam in the moonlight rolled,A bitter cry from the heart of the ghastly sea;"His hands will be frozen, the night is dark and cold,Burn, oh burn, for my love is coming to me."
One cry to God from the soul of the shuddering sea,One moment of stifling lips and struggling hands;"Burn, oh burn; for my love is coming to me;And oh, I think the little one understands."
One moment of stifling lips and struggling hands,Then only the glitter and gloom of the angry deep;"And oh, I think the little one understands;Dreamikin, Drowsy-head, sleep, my little one, sleep."
Words in this poem
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- lullaby n.
- A song to quiet babes or lull them to sleep; that which quiets. [From Lull, v. t.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Song of Two Burdens 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 Two Burdens, in Collected Poems, Volume One (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #30501, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/noyes-collected/a-song-of-two-burdens.html, id L21422.
Form and metre
A Song of Two Burdens is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic trimeter.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 homeA · deepB · comeA · sleepB
- 2 ABAB deepA · awayB · sleepA · dayB
- 3 ABAB awayA · returnB · dayA · burnB
- 4 ABAB returnA · seaB · burnA · meB
- 5 ABAB seaA · rolledB · meA · coldB
- 6 ABAB rolledA · seaB · coldA · meB
- 7 ABAB seaA · handsB · meA · understandsB
- 8 ABAB handsA · deepB · understandsA · sleepB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The round brown sails were reefed and struggling home | 12 | ······˘·/˘˘· |
| Over the glitter and gloom of the angry deep: | 12 | ···/˘····/˘· |
| Dark in the cottage she sang, "Soon, soon, he will come, | 12 | ···/˘······· |
| Dreamikin, Drowsy-head, sleep, my little one, sleep." | 12 | ···/˘···/˘·· |
| Over the glitter and gloom of the angry deep | 12 | ···/˘····/˘· |
| Was it only a dream or a shadow that vanished away? | 15 | ··/˘····/··/˘˘/ |
| "Lullaby, little one, sleep, my little one, sleep." | 12 | /˘·/˘···/˘·· |
| She sang in a dream as the shadows covered the day. | 13 | ·······/·/˘·· |
| Was it only a sail or a shadow that vanished away? | 15 | ··/˘····/··/˘˘/ |
| The boats come home: there is one that will never return; | 12 | ·········/˘/ |
| But she sang in a dream as the shadows buried the day; | 14 | ········/·/˘·· |
| And she set the supper and begged the fire to burn. | 12 | ····/˘···/·· |
| The boats come home; but one will never return; | 11 | ·······/˘˘/ |
| And a strangled cry went up from the struggling sea. | 12 | ··/˘·····/˘· |
| She sank on her knees and begged the fire to burn, | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| "Burn, oh burn, for my love is coming to me!" | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| A strangled cry went up from the struggling sea, | 12 | ·/˘·····/˘˘· |
| A cry where the ghastly surf to the moon-dawn rolled; | 12 | ····/˘······ |
| "Burn, oh burn; for my love is coming to me, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| His hands will be scarred with the ropes and starved with the cold." | 13 | ············· |
| A strangled cry where the foam in the moonlight rolled, | 12 | ·/˘······/·· |
| A bitter cry from the heart of the ghastly sea; | 12 | ·/˘······/˘· |
| "His hands will be frozen, the night is dark and cold, | 12 | ····/˘······ |
| Burn, oh burn, for my love is coming to me." | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| One cry to God from the soul of the shuddering sea, | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| One moment of stifling lips and struggling hands; | 12 | ·/˘·/˘··/˘˘· |
| "Burn, oh burn; for my love is coming to me; | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| And oh, I think the little one understands." | 11 | ·····/˘··˘/ |
| One moment of stifling lips and struggling hands, | 12 | ·/˘·/˘··/˘˘· |
| Then only the glitter and gloom of the angry deep; | 13 | ·/˘·/˘····/˘· |
| "And oh, I think the little one understands; | 11 | ·····/˘··˘/ |
| Dreamikin, Drowsy-head, sleep, my little one, sleep." | 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.