On First Hearing a Skylark Sing
Too late, thou tender songster of the skyTrilling unseen, by things unseen inspired,I list thy far-heard cryThat poets oft to kindred song hath fired,As floating through the purple veils of airThy soul is poured on high,A little joy in an immense despair.
Too late thou biddest me escape the earth,In ignorance of wrongTo spin a little slender thread of song;On yet unwearied wingTo rise and soar and sing,Not knowing death or birthOr any true unhappy human thing.
To dwell 'twixt field and cloud,By river-willow and the murmurous sedge,Be thy sweet privilege,To thee and to thy happy lords allowed.My native valley higher mountains hedge'Neath starlit skies and proud,And sadder music in my soul is loud.
Yet have I loved thy voice,Frail echo of some ancient sacred joy.Ah, who might not rejoiceHere to have wandered, a fair English boy,And breathed with life thy rapture and thy restWhere woven meadow-grasses fold thy nest?But whose life is his choice?And he who chooseth not hath chosen best.
Words in this poem
- songster n.
- One who sings; one skilled in singing; -- not often applied to human beings. [AS. sangestre a female singer.]
- trilling n.
- One of tree children born at the same birth. Wright. [Cf. G. drilling.]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- unwearied a.
- Not wearied; not fatigued or tired; hence, persistent; not tiring or wearying; indefatigable.
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- murmurous a.
- Attended with murmurs; exciting murmurs or complaint; murmuring. [Cf. L. murmuriosus, OF. murmuros.]
- starlit a.
- Lighted by the stars; starlight.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On First Hearing a Skylark Sing is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #49721; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: George Santayana, On First Hearing a Skylark Sing, in Poems (1922), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49721, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/santayana-poems/on-first-hearing-a-skylark-sing.html, id L21748.
Form and metre
On First Hearing a Skylark Sing is 29 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 ABABCAC skyA · inspiredB · cryA · firedB · airC · highA · despairC
- 2 ABBCCAC earthA · wrongB · songB · wingC · singC · birthA · thingC
- 3 ABBABAA cloudA · sedgeB · privilegeB · allowedA · hedgeB · proudA · loudA
- 4 ABABCCAC voiceA · joyB · rejoiceA · boyB · restC · nestC · choiceA · bestC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Too late, thou tender songster of the sky | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Trilling unseen, by things unseen inspired, | 11 | /˘˘/··˘/˘/˘ |
| I list thy far-heard cry | 6 | ······ |
| That poets oft to kindred song hath fired, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| As floating through the purple veils of air | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Thy soul is poured on high, | 6 | ······ |
| A little joy in an immense despair. | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘/ |
| Too late thou biddest me escape the earth, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| In ignorance of wrong | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| To spin a little slender thread of song; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| On yet unwearied wing | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| To rise and soar and sing, | 6 | ······ |
| Not knowing death or birth | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Or any true unhappy human thing. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘/˘· |
| To dwell 'twixt field and cloud, | 6 | ······ |
| By river-willow and the murmurous sedge, | 11 | ·/˘/···/˘˘· |
| Be thy sweet privilege, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| To thee and to thy happy lords allowed. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| My native valley higher mountains hedge | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| 'Neath starlit skies and proud, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And sadder music in my soul is loud. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Yet have I loved thy voice, | 6 | ······ |
| Frail echo of some ancient sacred joy. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Ah, who might not rejoice | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Here to have wandered, a fair English boy, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And breathed with life thy rapture and thy rest | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Where woven meadow-grasses fold thy nest? | 10 | ·/˘/·/˘··· |
| But whose life is his choice? | 6 | ······ |
| And he who chooseth not hath chosen best. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
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