Analysis of To The Nightingale, Which The Author Heard Sing On New Year's Day

William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)



Whence it is, that amazed I hear
From yonder withered spray,
This foremost morn of all the year,
The melody of May?

And why, since thousands would be proud
Of such a favour shown,
Am I selected from the crowd
To witness it alone?

Sing'st thou, sweet Philomel, to me,
For that I also long
Have practised in the groves like thee,
Though not like thee in song?

Or sing'st thou rather under force
Of some divine command,
Commissioned to presage a course
Of happier days at hand?

Thrice welcome then! for many a long
And joyless year have I,
As thou to-day, put forth my song
Beneath a wintry sky.

But Thee no wintry skies can harm,
Who only need'st to sing,
To make even January charm,
And every season Spring.


Scheme XAXA BCBC DEDE FGFG EHEH IJIJ
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 11110111 110101 1111101 010011 01110111 11011 11010101 110101 1111111 111101 1100111 111101 111110101 110101 01011001 1100111 110111001 01111 11111111 010101 11110111 1101111 11101001 0100101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 692
Words 134
Sentences 8
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 92
Words per stanza (avg) 22
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

41 sec read
97

William Cowper

William Macquarie Cowper was an Australian Anglican archdeacon and Dean of Sydney. more…

All William Cowper poems | William Cowper Books

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