Song for the Wandering Jew
Though the torrents from their fountainsRoar down many a craggy steep,Yet they find among the mountainsResting-places calm and deep.
Clouds that love through air to hasten,Ere the storm its fury stills,Helmet-like themselves will fastenOn the heads of towering hills.
What, if through the frozen centreOf the Alps the Chamois bound,Yet he has a home to enterIn some nook of chosen ground:
And the Sea-horse, though the oceanYield him no domestic cave,Slumbers without sense of motion,Couched upon the rocking wave.
If on windy days the RavenGambol like a dancing skiff,Not the less she loves her havenIn the bosom of the cliff.
The fleet Ostrich, till day closes,Vagrant over desert sands,Brooding on her eggs reposesWhen chill night that care demands.
Day and night my toils redouble,Never nearer to the goal;Night and day, I feel the troubleOf the Wanderer in my soul.
Words in this poem
- towering a.
- Very high; elevated; rising aloft; as, a towering height.
- centre v. i.
- To be placed in a center; to be central.
- nook n.
- A narrow place formed by an angle in bodies or between bodies; a corner; a recess; a secluded retreat. [OE. nok; cf. Gael. & Ir. niuc.]
- gambol n.
- A skipping or leaping about in frolic; a hop; a sportive prank. [OE. gambolde, gambaulde, F. gambade, gambol, fr. It. gambata kick, fr. L. gamba leg, akin to F. jambe, OF. also, gambe, fr. L. gamba, hoof or perh. joint: cf. G]
- skiff n.
- A small, light boat. [F. esquif, fr. OHG. skif, G. schiff. See Ship.]
- redouble v. t.
- To double again or repeatedly; to increase by continued or repeated additions; to augment greatly; to multiply. [Pref. re- + double: cf. F. redoubler. Cf. Reduplicate.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song for the Wandering Jew is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 2 (of 8), Project Gutenberg ebook #12145; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Wordsworth, Song for the Wandering Jew, in The Brothers, and Other Poems (1798–1807), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12145, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wordsworth-vol2/song-for-the-wandering-jew.html, id L17326.
Form and metre
Song for the Wandering Jew is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 6 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 14 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABAB fountainsA · steepB · mountainsA · deepB
- 2 -A-A hasten · stillsA · fasten · hillsA
- 3 ABAB centreA · boundB · enterA · groundB
- 4 ABAB oceanA · caveB · motionA · waveB
- 5 ABAB ravenA · skiffB · havenA · cliffB
- 6 ABAB closesA · sandsB · reposesA · demandsB
- 7 ABAB redoubleA · goalB · troubleA · soulB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Though the torrents from their fountains | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Roar down many a craggy steep, | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Yet they find among the mountains | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Resting-places calm and deep. | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Clouds that love through air to hasten, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Ere the storm its fury stills, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Helmet-like themselves will fasten | 8 | /˘·˘/·/˘ |
| On the heads of towering hills. | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| What, if through the frozen centre | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Of the Alps the Chamois bound, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Yet he has a home to enter | 8 | ······/˘ |
| In some nook of chosen ground: | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And the Sea-horse, though the ocean | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Yield him no domestic cave, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Slumbers without sense of motion, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| Couched upon the rocking wave. | 8 | ·˘···/˘· |
| If on windy days the Raven | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Gambol like a dancing skiff, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Not the less she loves her haven | 8 | ······/˘ |
| In the bosom of the cliff. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| The fleet Ostrich, till day closes, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Vagrant over desert sands, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Brooding on her eggs reposes | 8 | /˘···/·˘ |
| When chill night that care demands. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Day and night my toils redouble, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Never nearer to the goal; | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Night and day, I feel the trouble | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Of the Wanderer in my soul. | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
On this poem
Notes from the edition 8
William Knight's notes to The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, Volume 2 (1896; Project Gutenberg #12145): Wordsworth's own Isabella Fenwick notes and Knight's headnotes on composition and publication, plus his lettered footnotes (restarting at A for every poem).
- Stanza 2, line 4 This stanza was added in the edition of 1827.
- Stanza 3, line 4 1827. Though almost with eagle pinion O'er the rocks the Chamois roam, Yet he has some small dominion Which no doubt he calls his home. 1800. Though, as if with eagle pinion O'er the rocks the Chamois roam, Yet he has some small dominion Where he feels himself at home. 1815.
- Stanza 4, line 4 1836. Though the Sea-horse in the ocean Own no dear domestic cave; Yet he slumbers without motion On the calm and silent wave. 1800. Yet he slumbers--by the motion Rocked of many a gentle wave. 1827.
- Stanza 5, line 3 1827. ... he loves his haven 1800.
- Stanza 5, line 4 In the editions of 1800 to 1832 stanzas 4 and 5 were transposed. Their present order was adjusted in the edition of 1836.--Ed.
- Stanza 5, line 4 1815. On ... 1800.
- Stanza 6, line 4 This stanza was added in 1827.
- Stanza 7, line 4 1800. Never--never does the trouble Of the Wanderer leave my soul. 1815. The text of 1827 returns to that of 1800.
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