Song
Rarely, rarely, comest thou,Spirit of Delight!Wherefore hast thou left me nowMany a day and night?Many a weary night and day'Tis since thou art fled away.
How shall ever one like meWin thee back again?With the joyous and the freeThou wilt scoff at pain.Spirit false! thou hast forgotAll but those who need thee not.
As a lizard with the shadeOf a trembling leaf,Thou with sorrow art dismayed;Even the sighs of griefReproach thee, that thou art not near,And reproach thou wilt not hear.
Let me set my mournful dittyTo a merry measure;Thou wilt never come for pity,Thou wilt come for pleasure;Pity then will cut awayThose cruel wings, and thou wilt stay.
I love all that thou lovest,Spirit of Delight!The fresh Earth in new leaves dressed,And the starry night;Autumn evening, and the mornWhen the golden mists are born.
I love snow, and all the formsOf the radiant frost;I love waves, and winds, and storms,Everything almostWhich is Nature's, and may beUntainted by man's misery.
I love tranquil solitude,And such societyAs is quiet, wise, and goodBetween thee and meWhat difference? but thou dost possessThe things I seek, not love them less.
I love Love--though he has wings,And like light can flee,But above all other things,Spirit, I love thee--Thou art love and life! Oh, come,Make once more my heart thy home.
Words in this poem
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- 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,]
- ditty n.
- A saying or utterance; especially, one that is short and frequently repeated; a theme. [OE. dite, OF. ditié, fr. L. dictatum, p. p. neut. of dictare to say often, dictate, compose. See Dictate, v. t.]
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley — Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #4798; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Percy Bysshe Shelley, Song, in The Complete Poetical Works, Volume II (1816–1819), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4798, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shelley-later-poems/song.html, id L16442.
Form and metre
Song is 48 lines in 8 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 6 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.7 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 35% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABABCC thouA · delightB · nowA · nightB · dayC · awayC
- 2 ABABCC meA · againB · freeA · painB · forgotC · notC
- 3 ABABCC shadeA · leafB · dismayedA · griefB · nearC · hearC
- 4 ABABCC dittyA · measureB · pityA · pleasureB · awayC · stayC
- 5 ABABCC lovestA · delightB · dressedA · nightB · mornC · bornC
- 6 A-A--- formsA · frost · stormsA · almost · be · misery
- 7 ----AA solitude · society · good · me · possessA · lessA
- 8 ABABCC wingsA · fleeB · thingsA · theeB · comeC · homeC
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Rarely, rarely, comest thou, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Spirit of Delight! | 5 | /˘·˘/ |
| Wherefore hast thou left me now | 7 | /˘····· |
| Many a day and night? | 6 | /˘···· |
| Many a weary night and day | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| 'Tis since thou art fled away. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| How shall ever one like me | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Win thee back again? | 5 | ···˘/ |
| With the joyous and the free | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Thou wilt scoff at pain. | 5 | ····· |
| Spirit false! thou hast forgot | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| All but those who need thee not. | 7 | ······· |
| As a lizard with the shade | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Of a trembling leaf, | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| Thou with sorrow art dismayed; | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Even the sighs of grief | 6 | /˘···· |
| Reproach thee, that thou art not near, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| And reproach thou wilt not hear. | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Let me set my mournful ditty | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| To a merry measure; | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Thou wilt never come for pity, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Thou wilt come for pleasure; | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Pity then will cut away | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Those cruel wings, and thou wilt stay. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I love all that thou lovest, | 7 | ······· |
| Spirit of Delight! | 5 | /˘·˘/ |
| The fresh Earth in new leaves dressed, | 7 | ······· |
| And the starry night; | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Autumn evening, and the morn | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| When the golden mists are born. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| I love snow, and all the forms | 7 | ······· |
| Of the radiant frost; | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| I love waves, and winds, and storms, | 7 | ······· |
| Everything almost | 5 | /˘·/· |
| Which is Nature's, and may be | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Untainted by man's misery. | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| I love tranquil solitude, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| And such society | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| As is quiet, wise, and good | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Between thee and me | 5 | ····· |
| What difference? but thou dost possess | 9 | ·/˘˘···˘/ |
| The things I seek, not love them less. | 8 | ········ |
| I love Love--though he has wings, | 7 | ······· |
| And like light can flee, | 5 | ····· |
| But above all other things, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Spirit, I love thee-- | 5 | /˘··· |
| Thou art love and life! Oh, come, | 7 | ······· |
| Make once more my heart thy home. | 7 | ······· |
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.