The Progress of Love (A Lyrical Symphony) VI
For the song is lost that shook the dewWhere the wild musk-roses glisten,When the sunset dreamed that a dream was trueAnd the birds were hushed to listen.
The song is lost that shook the nightWith wings of richer fire,Where the years had touched their eyes with lightAnd their souls with a new desire;
And the new delight of the strange old storyBurned in the flower-soft skies,And nine more years with a darker gloryHad deepened the light of her eyes;
But lost, oh more than lost the songThat shook the rose to tears,As hand in hand they danced alongThrough childhood's everlasting years.
"Oh, Love has wings," the linnet sings;But the dead return no more, no more;And the sea is breaking its old grey heartAgainst the golden shore.
She was eight years old that day,Two young lovers were they.
If every song as they danced alongPaused on the springing spray;Is there never a bird in the wide greenwoodWill hush its heart to-day?
There's never a leaf with dew impearledTo make their pathway sweet,And never a blossom in all the worldThat knows the kiss of their feet.
No light to-night declares the wordThat thrilled the blossomed bough,And stilled the happy singing birdThat none can silence now.
The weary nightingale may sobWith her bleeding breast against a thorn,And the wild white rose with every throbGrow red as the laugh of morn;
With wings outspread she sinks her headBut Love returns no more, no more;And the sea is breaking its old grey heartAgainst the golden shore.
Born in the City of Pain;Ah, who knows, who knowsWhen Death shall turn to delight againOr a wound to a red, red rose?
Eight years old that day,Full of laughter and play;Eight years old and Anwyl nine,--Two young lovers were they.
Words in this poem
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- greenwood n.
- A forest as it appears is spring and summer.
- pathway n.
- A footpath; a beaten track; any path or course. Also used figuratively.
- throb v. i.
- To beat, or pulsate, with more than usual force or rapidity; to beat in consequence of agitation; to palpitate; -- said of the heart, pulse, etc. [OE. ; of uncertain origin; cf. Russ. trepete a trembling, and E. trepidation.]
- 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.]
- outspread v. t.
- To spread out; to expand; -- usually as a past part. or adj.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Progress of Love (A Lyrical Symphony) VI 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, The Progress of Love (A Lyrical Symphony) VI, in Collected Poems, Volume One (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #30501, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/noyes-collected/the-progress-of-love-a-lyrical-symphony-vi.html, id L21438.
Form and metre
The Progress of Love (A Lyrical Symphony) VI is 50 lines in 13 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 7 of its 13 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
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 ABAB dewA · glistenB · trueA · listenB
- 2 ABAB nightA · fireB · lightA · desireB
- 3 ABAB storyA · skiesB · gloryA · eyesB
- 4 ABAB songA · tearsB · alongA · yearsB
- 5 -A-A sings · moreA · heart · shoreA
- 6 AA dayA · theyA
- 7 -A-A along · sprayA · greenwood · dayA
- 8 -A-A impearled · sweetA · world · feetA
- 9 ABAB wordA · boughB · birdA · nowB
- 10 ABAB sobA · thornB · throbA · mornB
- 11 -A-A head · moreA · heart · shoreA
- 12 ABAB painA · knowsB · againA · roseB
- 13 AA-A dayA · playA · nine · theyA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| For the song is lost that shook the dew | 9 | ········· |
| Where the wild musk-roses glisten, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| When the sunset dreamed that a dream was true | 10 | ··/······· |
| And the birds were hushed to listen. | 9 | ·····˘·/˘ |
| The song is lost that shook the night | 8 | ········ |
| With wings of richer fire, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Where the years had touched their eyes with light | 10 | ·····˘···· |
| And their souls with a new desire; | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| And the new delight of the strange old story | 11 | ···˘/····/˘ |
| Burned in the flower-soft skies, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| And nine more years with a darker glory | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| Had deepened the light of her eyes; | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| But lost, oh more than lost the song | 8 | ········ |
| That shook the rose to tears, | 6 | ······ |
| As hand in hand they danced along | 9 | ······˘˘/ |
| Through childhood's everlasting years. | 8 | ·/··˘/˘· |
| "Oh, Love has wings," the linnet sings; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But the dead return no more, no more; | 9 | ···˘/···· |
| And the sea is breaking its old grey heart | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Against the golden shore. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| She was eight years old that day, | 7 | ······· |
| Two young lovers were they. | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| If every song as they danced along | 10 | ·/˘˘····˘/ |
| Paused on the springing spray; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Is there never a bird in the wide greenwood | 10 | ··/·····/· |
| Will hush its heart to-day? | 6 | ······ |
| There's never a leaf with dew impearled | 10 | ·/˘······˘ |
| To make their pathway sweet, | 6 | ···/·· |
| And never a blossom in all the world | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| That knows the kiss of their feet. | 7 | ······· |
| No light to-night declares the word | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| That thrilled the blossomed bough, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And stilled the happy singing bird | 9 | ··˘·/˘/˘· |
| That none can silence now. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The weary nightingale may sob | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| With her bleeding breast against a thorn, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| And the wild white rose with every throb | 10 | ······/˘˘· |
| Grow red as the laugh of morn; | 7 | ······· |
| With wings outspread she sinks her head | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| But Love returns no more, no more; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| And the sea is breaking its old grey heart | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Against the golden shore. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Born in the City of Pain; | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Ah, who knows, who knows | 5 | ····· |
| When Death shall turn to delight again | 9 | ·····˘/˘/ |
| Or a wound to a red, red rose? | 8 | ········ |
| Eight years old that day, | 5 | ····· |
| Full of laughter and play; | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Eight years old and Anwyl nine,-- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Two young lovers were they. | 6 | ··/˘·· |
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