Why Silent?
Why am I silent from year to year?Needs must I sing on these blue March days?What will you say, when I tell you here,That already, I think, for a little praise,I have paid too dear?
For, I know not why, when I tell my thought,It seems as though I fling it away;And the charm wherewith a fancy is fraught,When secret, dies with the fleeting layInto which it is wrought.
So my butterfly-dreams their golden wingsBut seldom unfurl from their chrysalis;And thus I retain my loveliest things,While the world, in its worldliness, does not missWhat a poet sings.
Words in this poem
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- wherewith adv.
- With which; -- used relatively.
- fraught n.
- A freight; a cargo. [OE.fraight, fraght; akin to Dan. fragt, Sw. frakt, D. vracht, G. fracht, cf. OHG. fr merit, reward; perh. from corresponding to E. for + The root of E. own. Cf.]
- unfurl v. t.
- To loose from a furled state; to unfold; to expand; to open or spread; as, to unfurl sails; to unfurl a flag. [1st pref. un- + furl.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Why Silent? is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Henry Timrod; with Memoir, Project Gutenberg ebook #845; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Timrod, Why Silent?, in Poems (1860–1867), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #845, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/timrod-poems/why-silent.html, id L10457.
Form and metre
Why Silent? is 15 lines in 3 stanzas of 5 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABA. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.8 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% 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 ABABA yearA · daysB · hereA · praiseB · dearA
- 2 ABABA thoughtA · awayB · fraughtA · layB · wroughtA
- 3 ABABA wingsA · chrysalisB · thingsA · missB · singsA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Why am I silent from year to year? | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Needs must I sing on these blue March days? | 9 | ········· |
| What will you say, when I tell you here, | 9 | ········· |
| That already, I think, for a little praise, | 11 | ·˘/˘····/˘· |
| I have paid too dear? | 5 | ····· |
| For, I know not why, when I tell my thought, | 10 | ·········· |
| It seems as though I fling it away; | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| And the charm wherewith a fancy is fraught, | 10 | ···˘/·/˘·· |
| When secret, dies with the fleeting lay | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Into which it is wrought. | 6 | ······ |
| So my butterfly-dreams their golden wings | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| But seldom unfurl from their chrysalis; | 10 | ·/˘˘/··/˘˘ |
| And thus I retain my loveliest things, | 10 | ···˘/····· |
| While the world, in its worldliness, does not miss | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| What a poet sings. | 5 | ··/˘· |
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.