A Slumber-Song for the Fisherman's Child
Furl your sail, my little boatie;Here's the haven still and deep,Where the dreaming tides in-streamingUp the channel creep.Now the sunset breeze is dying;Hear the plover, landward flying,Softly down the twilight crying;Come to anchor, little boatie,In the port of Sleep.
Far away, my little boatie,Roaring waves are white with foam;Ships are striving, onward driving,Day and night they roam.Father's at the deep-sea trawling,In the darkness, rowing, hauling,While the hungry winds are calling,--God protect him, little boatie,Bring him safely home!
Not for you, my little boatie,Is the wide and weary sea;You're too slender, and too tender,You must bide with me.All day long you have been strayingUp and down the shore and playing;Come to harbour, no delaying!Day is over, little boatie,Night falls suddenly.
Furl your sail, my little boatie,Fold your wings, my weary dove.Dews are sprinkling, stars are twinklingDrowsily above.Cease from sailing, cease from rowing;Rock upon the dream-tide, knowingSafely o'er your rest are glowing,All the night, my little boatie,Harbour-lights of love.
Words in this poem
- furl v. t.
- To draw up or gather into close compass; to wrap or roll, as a sail, close to the yard, stay, or mast, or, as a flag, close to or around its staff, securing it there by a gasket or line. Totten. [Contr. fr. furdle, fr. fardel bundle: cf. F. ferler to furl, OF. fardeler to pack. See Furdle, Fardel, and cf. Farl.]
- landward adv.
- Toward the land.
- bide v. i.
- To dwell; to inhabit; to abide; to stay. [OE. biden, AS. bidan; akin to OHG. bitan, Goth. beidan, Icel. bi; perh. orig., to wait with trust, and akin to bid. See Bid, v. t., and cf. Abide.]
- harbour n.
- A station for rest and entertainment; a place of security and comfort; a refuge; a shelter. [OE herbor, herberwe, herberge, Icel. herbergi (cf. OHG. heriberga), orig., a shelter for soldiers; herr army + bjarga to save, help, defend; akin to AS. here ar]
- twinkling n.
- The act of one who, or of that which, twinkles; a quick movement of the eye; a wink; a twinkle. Holland.
- drowsily adv.
- In a drowsy manner.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Slumber-Song for the Fisherman's Child is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Henry Van Dyke, Project Gutenberg ebook #16229; 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 Van Dyke, A Slumber-Song for the Fisherman's Child, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/a-slumber-song-for-the-fisherman-s-child.html, id L22837.
Form and metre
A Slumber-Song for the Fisherman's Child is 36 lines in 4 stanzas of 9 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 97%).
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 AB-BCCCAB boatieA · deepB · streaming · creepB · dyingC · flyingC · cryingC · boatieA · sleepB
- 2 ABCBCCCAB boatieA · foamB · drivingC · roamB · trawlingC · haulingC · callingC · boatieA · homeB
- 3 AB-BCCCA- boatieA · seaB · tender · meB · strayingC · playingC · delayingC · boatieA · suddenly
- 4 AB-BCCCAB boatieA · doveB · twinkling · aboveB · rowingC · knowingC · glowingC · boatieA · loveB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Furl your sail, my little boatie; | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Here's the haven still and deep, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Where the dreaming tides in-streaming | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Up the channel creep. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Now the sunset breeze is dying; | 8 | ··/···/˘ |
| Hear the plover, landward flying, | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Softly down the twilight crying; | 8 | /˘··/·/˘ |
| Come to anchor, little boatie, | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| In the port of Sleep. | 5 | ····· |
| Far away, my little boatie, | 8 | ·˘/·/˘·· |
| Roaring waves are white with foam; | 7 | /˘····· |
| Ships are striving, onward driving, | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Day and night they roam. | 5 | ····· |
| Father's at the deep-sea trawling, | 8 | /˘······ |
| In the darkness, rowing, hauling, | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| While the hungry winds are calling,-- | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| God protect him, little boatie, | 8 | ·˘/·/˘·· |
| Bring him safely home! | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Not for you, my little boatie, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Is the wide and weary sea; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| You're too slender, and too tender, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| You must bide with me. | 5 | ····· |
| All day long you have been straying | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Up and down the shore and playing; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Come to harbour, no delaying! | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Day is over, little boatie, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Night falls suddenly. | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Furl your sail, my little boatie, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Fold your wings, my weary dove. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Dews are sprinkling, stars are twinkling | 9 | ··/˘··/˘˘ |
| Drowsily above. | 5 | /˘˘·· |
| Cease from sailing, cease from rowing; | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Rock upon the dream-tide, knowing | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Safely o'er your rest are glowing, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| All the night, my little boatie, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Harbour-lights of love. | 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.