The Sad Shepherd
There was a man whom Sorrow named his friend,And he, of his high comrade Sorrow dreaming,Went walking with slow steps along the gleamingAnd humming sands, where windy surges wend:And he called loudly to the stars to bendFrom their pale thrones and comfort him, but theyAmong themselves laugh on and sing alway:And then the man whom Sorrow named his friendCried out, Dim sea, hear my most piteous story!The sea swept on and cried her old cry still,Rolling along in dreams from hill to hill;He fled the persecution of her gloryAnd, in a far-off, gentle valley stopping,Cried all his story to the dewdrops glistening,But naught they heard, for they are always listening,The dewdrops, for the sound of their own dropping.And then the man whom Sorrow named his friend,Sought once again the shore, and found a shell,And thought, I will my heavy story tellTill my own words, re-echoing, shall sendTheir sadness through a hollow, pearly heart;And my own tale again for me shall sing,And my own whispering words be comforting,And lo! my ancient burden may depart.Then he sang softly nigh the pearly rim;But the sad dweller by the sea-ways loneChanged all he sang to inarticulate moanAmong her wildering whirls, forgetting him.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- wend n.
- A large extent of ground; a perambulation; a circuit.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- wildering n.
- A plant growing in a state of nature; especially, one which has run wild, or escaped from cultivation.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Sad Shepherd is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #38877; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: W. B. Yeats, The Sad Shepherd, in Poems (1895), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #38877, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/yeats-poems/the-sad-shepherd.html, id L16683.
Form and metre
The Sad Shepherd is 28 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.4 syllables. 10 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 32% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 ABBAA--ACDDCEFFEAGGAHIIHJKKJ friendA · dreamingB · gleamingB · wendA · bendA · they · alway · friendA · storyC · stillD · hillD · gloryC · stoppingE · glisteningF · listeningF · droppingE · friendA · shellG · tellG · sendA · heartH · singI · comfortingI · departH · rimJ · loneK · moanK · himJ
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 |
|---|---|---|
| There was a man whom Sorrow named his friend, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And he, of his high comrade Sorrow dreaming, | 11 | ·····/·/˘/˘ |
| Went walking with slow steps along the gleaming | 11 | ·/˘···˘/·/˘ |
| And humming sands, where windy surges wend: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| And he called loudly to the stars to bend | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| From their pale thrones and comfort him, but they | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Among themselves laugh on and sing alway: | 10 | ··˘/····/˘ |
| And then the man whom Sorrow named his friend | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Cried out, Dim sea, hear my most piteous story! | 12 | ·······/˘˘/˘ |
| The sea swept on and cried her old cry still, | 10 | ·········· |
| Rolling along in dreams from hill to hill; | 10 | /˘˘/······ |
| He fled the persecution of her glory | 11 | ····˘/˘··/˘ |
| And, in a far-off, gentle valley stopping, | 11 | ·····/˘/˘/˘ |
| Cried all his story to the dewdrops glistening, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| But naught they heard, for they are always listening, | 11 | ·······/·/˘ |
| The dewdrops, for the sound of their own dropping. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| And then the man whom Sorrow named his friend, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Sought once again the shore, and found a shell, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| And thought, I will my heavy story tell | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Till my own words, re-echoing, shall send | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Their sadness through a hollow, pearly heart; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| And my own tale again for me shall sing, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| And my own whispering words be comforting, | 11 | ···/˘˘··/˘˘ |
| And lo! my ancient burden may depart. | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Then he sang softly nigh the pearly rim; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| But the sad dweller by the sea-ways lone | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Changed all he sang to inarticulate moan | 10 | ·····˘˘/˘· |
| Among her wildering whirls, forgetting him. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
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.