The Flight of the Birds
Whither away, Robin,Whither away?Is it through envy of the maple-leaf,Whose blushes mock the crimson of thy breast,Thou wilt not stay?The summer days were long, yet all too briefThe happy season thou hast been our guest:Whither away?
Whither away, Bluebird,Whither away?The blast is chill, yet in the upper skyThou still canst find the color of thy wing,The hue of May.Warbler, why speed thy southern flight? ah, why,Thou too, whose song first told us of the Spring?Whither away?
Whither away, Swallow,Whither away?Canst thou no longer tarry in the North,Here, where our roof so well hath screened thy nestNot one short day?Wilt thou—as if thou human wert—go forthAnd wanton far from them who love thee best?Whither away?
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.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- bluebird n.
- A small song bird (Sialia sialis), very common in the United States, and, in the north, one of the earliest to arrive in spring.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Flight of the Birds is in the public domain. This text is taken from The poetical works of Edmund Clarence Stedman, Project Gutenberg ebook #70763; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edmund Clarence Stedman, The Flight of the Birds, in The Poetical Works of Edmund Clarence Stedman (1860–1897), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70763, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/stedman-poems/the-flight-of-the-birds.html, id L10742.
Form and metre
The Flight of the Birds is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 80% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 -ABCABCA robin · awayA · leafB · breastC · stayA · briefB · guestC · awayA
- 2 -ABCABCA bluebird · awayA · skyB · wingC · mayA · whyB · springC · awayA
- 3 -ABCABCA swallow · awayA · northB · nestC · dayA · forthB · bestC · awayA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Whither away, Robin, | 6 | /˘˘//˘ |
| Whither away? | 4 | /˘˘/ |
| Is it through envy of the maple-leaf, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Whose blushes mock the crimson of thy breast, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Thou wilt not stay? | 4 | ···· |
| The summer days were long, yet all too brief | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The happy season thou hast been our guest: | 10 | ·/˘/˘···/· |
| Whither away? | 4 | /˘˘/ |
| Whither away, Bluebird, | 6 | /˘˘//· |
| Whither away? | 4 | /˘˘/ |
| The blast is chill, yet in the upper sky | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Thou still canst find the color of thy wing, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The hue of May. | 4 | ···· |
| Warbler, why speed thy southern flight? ah, why, | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Thou too, whose song first told us of the Spring? | 10 | ·········· |
| Whither away? | 4 | /˘˘/ |
| Whither away, Swallow, | 6 | /˘˘//˘ |
| Whither away? | 4 | /˘˘/ |
| Canst thou no longer tarry in the North, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Here, where our roof so well hath screened thy nest | 10 | ··/······· |
| Not one short day? | 4 | ···· |
| Wilt thou—as if thou human wert—go forth | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And wanton far from them who love thee best? | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Whither away? | 4 | /˘˘/ |
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.