The Power of Song
The foaming stream from out the rockWith thunder roar begins to rush,--The oak falls prostrate at the shock,And mountain-wrecks attend the gush.With rapturous awe, in wonder lost,The wanderer hearkens to the sound;From cliff to cliff he hears it tossed,Yet knows not whither it is bound:'Tis thus that song's bright waters pourFrom sources never known before.
In union with those dreaded onesThat spin life's thread all-silently,Who can resist the singer's tones?Who from his magic set him free?With wand like that the gods bestow,He guides the heaving bosom's chords,He steeps it in the realms below,He bears it, wondering, heavenward,And rocks it, 'twixt the grave and gay,On feeling's scales that trembling sway.
As when before the startled eyesOf some glad throng, mysteriously,With giant-step, in spirit-guise,Appears a wondrous deity,Then bows each greatness of the earthBefore the stranger heaven-born,Mute are the thoughtless sounds of mirth,While from each face the mask is torn,And from the truth's triumphant mightEach work of falsehood takes to flight.
So from each idle burden free,When summoned by the voice of song,Man soars to spirit-dignity,Receiving force divinely strong:Among the gods is now his home,Naught earthly ventures to approach--All other powers must now be dumb,No fate can on his realms encroach;Care's gloomy wrinkles disappear,Whilst music's charms still linger here,
As after long and hopeless yearning,And separation's bitter smart,A child, with tears repentant burning,Clings fondly to his mother's heart--So to his youthful happy dwelling,To rapture pure and free from stain,All strange and false conceits expelling,Song guides the wanderer back again,In faithful Nature's loving arm,From chilling precepts to grow warm.
Words in this poem
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
- mysteriously adv.
- In a mysterious manner.
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- repentant a.
- Penitent; sorry for sin. [F. repentant.]
- fondly adv.
- Foolishly. Verstegan (1673).
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Power of Song is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Schiller — Third period, Project Gutenberg ebook #6796; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Friedrich Schiller, The Power of Song, in The Poems of Schiller: Third Period (1805), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/schiller-third-period/the-power-of-song.html, id L21858.
Form and metre
The Power of Song is 50 lines in 5 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 ABABCDCDEE rockA · rushB · shockA · gushB · lostC · soundD · tossedC · boundD · pourE · beforeE
- 2 ----A-A-BB ones · silently · tones · free · bestowA · chords · belowA · heavenward · gayB · swayB
- 3 A-A-BCBCDD eyesA · mysteriously · guiseA · deity · earthB · bornC · mirthB · tornC · mightD · flightD
- 4 -A-ABCBCDD free · songA · dignity · strongA · homeB · approachC · dumbB · encroachC · disappearD · hereD
- 5 ABABCDCD-- yearningA · smartB · burningA · heartB · dwellingC · stainD · expellingC · againD · arm · warm
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The foaming stream from out the rock | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| With thunder roar begins to rush,-- | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| The oak falls prostrate at the shock, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And mountain-wrecks attend the gush. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| With rapturous awe, in wonder lost, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The wanderer hearkens to the sound; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| From cliff to cliff he hears it tossed, | 8 | ········ |
| Yet knows not whither it is bound: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| 'Tis thus that song's bright waters pour | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| From sources never known before. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| In union with those dreaded ones | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That spin life's thread all-silently, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Who can resist the singer's tones? | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Who from his magic set him free? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With wand like that the gods bestow, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| He guides the heaving bosom's chords, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| He steeps it in the realms below, | 8 | ········ |
| He bears it, wondering, heavenward, | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘˘ |
| And rocks it, 'twixt the grave and gay, | 8 | ········ |
| On feeling's scales that trembling sway. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| As when before the startled eyes | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of some glad throng, mysteriously, | 9 | ·····/˘˘˘ |
| With giant-step, in spirit-guise, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Appears a wondrous deity, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘˘ |
| Then bows each greatness of the earth | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Before the stranger heaven-born, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Mute are the thoughtless sounds of mirth, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| While from each face the mask is torn, | 8 | ········ |
| And from the truth's triumphant might | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Each work of falsehood takes to flight. | 8 | ···/···· |
| So from each idle burden free, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| When summoned by the voice of song, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Man soars to spirit-dignity, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Receiving force divinely strong: | 8 | ˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Among the gods is now his home, | 8 | ········ |
| Naught earthly ventures to approach-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| All other powers must now be dumb, | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| No fate can on his realms encroach; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Care's gloomy wrinkles disappear, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Whilst music's charms still linger here, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| As after long and hopeless yearning, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| And separation's bitter smart, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| A child, with tears repentant burning, | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| Clings fondly to his mother's heart-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| So to his youthful happy dwelling, | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| To rapture pure and free from stain, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| All strange and false conceits expelling, | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| Song guides the wanderer back again, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| In faithful Nature's loving arm, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| From chilling precepts to grow warm. | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
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.