Song (“Every day hath its night”)
Every day hath its night:Every night its morn:Thorough dark and brightWingèd hours are borne;Ah! welaway!
Seasons flower and fade;Golden calm and stormMingle day by day.There is no bright formDoth not cast a shade—Ah! welaway!
When we laugh, and our mirthApes the happy vein,We’re so kin to earth,Pleasaunce fathers pain—Ah! welaway!Madness laugheth loud:Laughter bringeth tears:Eyes are worn awayTill the end of fearsCometh in the shroud,Ah! welaway!
All is change, woe or weal;Joy is Sorrow’s brother;Grief and gladness stealSymbols of each other;Ah! welaway!Larks in heaven’s copeSing: the culvers mournAll the livelong day.Be not all forlorn;Let us weep, in hope—Ah! welaway!
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- livelong a.
- Whole; entire; long in passing; -- used of time, as day or night, in adverbial phrases, and usually with a sense of tediousness. [For lifelong. Cf. Lifelong.]
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song (“Every day hath its night”) is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Early Poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson, Project Gutenberg ebook #8601; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Alfred Tennyson, Song (“Every day hath its night”), in The Early Poems (1830–1842), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8601, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tennyson-early-poems/song-every-day-hath-its-night.html, id L20766.
Form and metre
Song (“Every day hath its night”) is 33 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABAB- nightA · mornB · brightA · borneB · welaway
- 2 AB-BA- fadeA · stormB · day · formB · shadeA · welaway
- 3 ABABCDE-EDC mirthA · veinB · earthA · painB · welawayC · loudD · tearsE · away · fearsE · shroudD · welawayC
- 4 ABABCDE-EDC wealA · brotherB · stealA · otherB · welawayC · copeD · mournE · day · forlornE · hopeD · welawayC
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Every day hath its night: | 6 | /˘···· |
| Every night its morn: | 5 | /˘··· |
| Thorough dark and bright | 5 | /˘··· |
| Wingèd hours are borne; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Ah! welaway! | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| Seasons flower and fade; | 5 | /˘/·· |
| Golden calm and storm | 5 | /˘··· |
| Mingle day by day. | 5 | /˘··· |
| There is no bright form | 5 | ····· |
| Doth not cast a shade— | 5 | ····· |
| Ah! welaway! | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| When we laugh, and our mirth | 6 | ····/· |
| Apes the happy vein, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| We’re so kin to earth, | 5 | ····· |
| Pleasaunce fathers pain— | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Ah! welaway! | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| Madness laugheth loud: | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| Laughter bringeth tears: | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| Eyes are worn away | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Till the end of fears | 5 | ····· |
| Cometh in the shroud, | 5 | /˘··· |
| Ah! welaway! | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| All is change, woe or weal; | 6 | ······ |
| Joy is Sorrow’s brother; | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Grief and gladness steal | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Symbols of each other; | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Ah! welaway! | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| Larks in heaven’s cope | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Sing: the culvers mourn | 5 | ··/˘· |
| All the livelong day. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Be not all forlorn; | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Let us weep, in hope— | 5 | ····· |
| Ah! welaway! | 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.