Hunting Song
Out of the garden of playtime, out of the bower of rest,Fain would I follow at daytime, music that calls to a quest.Hark, how the galloping measureQuickens the pulses of pleasure;Gaily saluting the mornWith the long, clear note of the hunting-horn,Echoing up from the valley,Over the mountain side,--Rally, you hunters, rally,Rally, and ride!
Drink of the magical potion music has mixed with her wine,Full of the madness of motion, joyful, exultant, divine!Leave all your troubles behind you,Ride where they never can find you,Into the gladness of morn,With the long, clear note of the hunting-horn,Swiftly o'er hillock and hollow,Sweeping along with the wind,--Follow, you hunters, follow,Follow and find!
What will you reach with your riding? What is the charm of the chase?Just the delight and the striding swing of the jubilant pace.Danger is sweet when you front her,--In at the death, every hunter!Now on the breeze the mort is borneIn the long, clear note of the hunting-horn,Winding merrily, over and over,--Come, come, come!Home again, Ranger! home again, Rover!Turn again, home!
Words in this poem
- playtime n.
- Time for play or diversion.
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- galloping a.
- Going at a gallop; progressing rapidly; as, a galloping horse.
- gaily adv.
- Merrily; showily. See gaily. [From Gay.]
- 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.]
- rally v. t.
- To collect, and reduce to order, as troops dispersed or thrown into confusion; to gather again; to reunite. [OF. ralier, F. rallier, fr. L. pref. re- + ad + ligare to bind. See Ra-, and 1st Ally.]
- exultant a.
- Inclined to exult; characterized by, or expressing, exultation; rejoicing triumphantly. [L. exsultans, exsultantis, p. pr. of exsultare. See Exult.]
- jubilant a.
- Uttering songs of triumph; shouting with joy; triumphant; exulting. [L. jubilans, -antis, p. pr. of jubilare to shout for joy: cf. F. jubila. See Jubilate.]
- mort n.
- A great quantity or number. [Cf. Icel. margt, neut. of margr many.]
- ranger n.
- One who ranges; a rover; sometimes, one who ranges for plunder; a roving robber.
- rover n.
- One who practices robbery on the seas; a pirate. [D. roover a robber. See Rove, v. i.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Hunting Song 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, Hunting Song, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/hunting-song.html, id L22973.
Form and metre
Hunting Song is 30 lines in 3 stanzas of 10 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABBCCDEDE, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
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 AABBCCDEDE restA · questA · measureB · pleasureB · mornC · hornC · valleyD · sideE · rallyD · rideE
- 2 AABBCCDEDE wineA · divineA · youB · youB · mornC · hornC · hollowD · windE · followD · findE
- 3 AA--BBCDCD chaseA · paceA · her · hunter · borneB · hornB · overC · comeD · roverC · homeD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Out of the garden of playtime, out of the bower of rest, | 14 | ···/˘·/˘···/·· |
| Fain would I follow at daytime, music that calls to a quest. | 15 | ···/˘·/·/˘····· |
| Hark, how the galloping measure | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| Quickens the pulses of pleasure; | 8 | /˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Gaily saluting the morn | 7 | /˘˘/˘·· |
| With the long, clear note of the hunting-horn, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Echoing up from the valley, | 8 | /˘˘···/˘ |
| Over the mountain side,-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Rally, you hunters, rally, | 7 | /˘·/˘/˘ |
| Rally, and ride! | 4 | /˘·· |
| Drink of the magical potion music has mixed with her wine, | 14 | ···/˘/˘/˘····· |
| Full of the madness of motion, joyful, exultant, divine! | 15 | ···/˘·/˘/˘˘/˘˘/ |
| Leave all your troubles behind you, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Ride where they never can find you, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Into the gladness of morn, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| With the long, clear note of the hunting-horn, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Swiftly o'er hillock and hollow, | 8 | /˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Sweeping along with the wind,-- | 7 | /˘˘/··· |
| Follow, you hunters, follow, | 7 | /˘·/˘/˘ |
| Follow and find! | 4 | /˘·· |
| What will you reach with your riding? What is the charm of the chase? | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| Just the delight and the striding swing of the jubilant pace. | 14 | ··˘/··/˘···/˘· |
| Danger is sweet when you front her,-- | 8 | /˘······ |
| In at the death, every hunter! | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| Now on the breeze the mort is borne | 8 | ········ |
| In the long, clear note of the hunting-horn, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Winding merrily, over and over,-- | 10 | /˘/˘˘····· |
| Come, come, come! | 3 | ··· |
| Home again, Ranger! home again, Rover! | 10 | ·˘//˘·˘//˘ |
| Turn again, home! | 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.