Poems
Hey! now the day dawis;The jolly cock crawis;Now shroudis the shawisThro’ Nature anon.The thissel-cock cryisOn lovers wha lyis:Now skaillis the skyis;The nicht is neir gone.
The fieldis ouerflowisWith gowans that growis,Quhair lilies like low isAs red as the rone.
The turtle that true is,With notes that renewis,Her pairty pursuis:The nicht is neir gone.
Now hairtis with hindisConform to their kindis,Hie tursis their tyndisOn ground quhair they grone.Now hurchonis, with hairis,Aye passis in pairis;Quhilk duly declarisThe nicht is neir gone.
The season excellisThrough sweetness that smellis;Now Cupid compellisOur hairtis echoneOn Venus wha waikis,To muse on our maikis,Syne sing for their saikis--‘The nicht is neir gone!’
All courageous knichtisAganis the day dichtisThe breist-plate that bright isTo fight with their fone.The stonèd steed stampisThrough courage, and crampis,Syne on the land lampis:The nicht is neir gone.
The freikis on feildisThat wight wapins weildisWith shyning bright shieldisAt Titan in trone;Stiff speiris in reistisOuer corseris crestisAre broke on their breistis:The nicht is neir gone.
So hard are their hittis,Some sweyis, some sittis,And some perforce flittisOn ground quhile they grone.Syne groomis that gay isOn blonkis that brayisWith swordis assayis:--The nicht is neir gone.
Words in this poem
- anon adv.
- Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
- cupid
- The god of love, son of Venus; usually represented as a naked, winged boy with bow and arrow. [L.Cupido, fr. cupido desire, desire of love, fr. cupidus. See Cupidity.]
- syne adv.
- Afterwards; since; ago. R. of Brunne. [See Since.]
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- wight n.
- A whit; a bit; a jot. [OE. wight, wiht, a wight, a whit, AS. wiht, wuht, a creature, a thing; skin to D. wicht a child, OS. & OHG. wiht a creature, thing, G. wicht a creature, Icel. v]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- perforce v. t.
- To force; to compel.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poems is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900, Project Gutenberg ebook #66619; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Alexander Montgomerie, Poems, (1540–1610), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-alexander-montgomerie/the-night-is-near-gone.html, id L15965.
Form and metre
The Night is Near Gone is 56 lines in 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.8 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 39% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 AAA-BBB- dawisA · crawisA · shawisA · anon · cryisB · lyisB · skyisB · gone
- 2 AA-- ouerflowisA · growisA · is · rone
- 4 -AA-BBA- hindis · kindisA · tyndisA · grone · hairisB · pairisB · declarisA · gone
- 5 AAA-BB-- excellisA · smellisA · compellisA · echone · waikisB · maikisB · saikis · gone
- 6 AAB-CCB- knichtisA · dichtisA · isB · fone · stampisC · crampisC · lampisB · gone
- 7 AAA-BAB- feildisA · weildisA · shieldisA · trone · reistisB · crestisA · breistisB · gone
- 8 AAA--BB- hittisA · sittisA · flittisA · grone · is · brayisB · assayisB · gone
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hey! now the day dawis; | 6 | ······ |
| The jolly cock crawis; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Now shroudis the shawis | 6 | ······ |
| Thro’ Nature anon. | 5 | ·/˘˘/ |
| The thissel-cock cryis | 5 | ····· |
| On lovers wha lyis: | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Now skaillis the skyis; | 5 | ····· |
| The nicht is neir gone. | 5 | ····· |
| The fieldis ouerflowis | 6 | ······ |
| With gowans that growis, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Quhair lilies like low is | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| As red as the rone. | 5 | ····· |
| The turtle that true is, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| With notes that renewis, | 6 | ······ |
| Her pairty pursuis: | 5 | ····· |
| The nicht is neir gone. | 5 | ····· |
| Now hairtis with hindis | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Conform to their kindis, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Hie tursis their tyndis | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| On ground quhair they grone. | 6 | ······ |
| Now hurchonis, with hairis, | 7 | ······· |
| Aye passis in pairis; | 6 | ······ |
| Quhilk duly declaris | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| The nicht is neir gone. | 5 | ····· |
| The season excellis | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Through sweetness that smellis; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Now Cupid compellis | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Our hairtis echone | 6 | /˘···· |
| On Venus wha waikis, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| To muse on our maikis, | 6 | ···/·· |
| Syne sing for their saikis-- | 6 | ····/˘ |
| ‘The nicht is neir gone!’ | 5 | ····· |
| All courageous knichtis | 6 | ·˘/˘·· |
| Aganis the day dichtis | 7 | ······· |
| The breist-plate that bright is | 6 | ······ |
| To fight with their fone. | 5 | ····· |
| The stonèd steed stampis | 5 | ····· |
| Through courage, and crampis, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Syne on the land lampis: | 6 | ····/˘ |
| The nicht is neir gone. | 5 | ····· |
| The freikis on feildis | 6 | ······ |
| That wight wapins weildis | 6 | ······ |
| With shyning bright shieldis | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| At Titan in trone; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Stiff speiris in reistis | 6 | ······ |
| Ouer corseris crestis | 6 | ······ |
| Are broke on their breistis: | 6 | ······ |
| The nicht is neir gone. | 5 | ····· |
| So hard are their hittis, | 6 | ······ |
| Some sweyis, some sittis, | 5 | ····· |
| And some perforce flittis | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| On ground quhile they grone. | 7 | ······· |
| Syne groomis that gay is | 6 | ······ |
| On blonkis that brayis | 5 | ····· |
| With swordis assayis:-- | 5 | ····· |
| The nicht is neir gone. | 5 | ····· |
Notes from the edition 1
Quiller-Couch's glosses on the hard words, from The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250–1900, chosen and edited by Arthur Quiller-Couch (Oxford, 1900; Project Gutenberg #66619)
- Stanza 1 _48._ shroudis] dress themselves. shawis] woods. skaillis] clears. gowans] daisies. low] flame. rone] rowan. pairty] partner, mate. tursis] carry. tyndis] antlers. grone] groan, bell. hurchonis] hedgehogs, ‘urchins.’ maikis] mates. fone] foes. stonèd steed] stallion. crampis] prances. lampis] gallops. _48._ freikis] men, warriors. wight wapins] stout weapons. at Titan] over against Titan (the sun), or read ‘as.’ flittis] are cast. blonkis] white palfreys.
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.