To a Waterfowl

William Cullen Bryant 1794 (Cummington) – 1878 (New York City)



Whither, midst falling dew,
While glow the heavens with the last steps of day
Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue
Thy solitary way?

Vainly the fowler's eye
Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong
As, darkly seen against the crimson sky,
Thy figure floats along.

Seek'st thou the plashy brink
Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide,
Or where the rocking billows rise and sing
On the chafed ocean side?

There is a Power whose care
Teaches thy way along that pathless coast--
The desert and illimitable air--
Lone wandering, but not lost.

All day thy wings have fanned,
At that far height, the cold, thin atmosphere,
Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land,
Though the dark night is near.

And soon that toil shall end;
Soon shalt thou find a summer home, and rest,
And scream among thy fellows; reeds shall bend,
Soon, o'er thy sheltered nest.

Thou'rt gone, the abyss of heaven
Hath swallowed up thy form; yet, on my heart
Deeply has sunk the lesson thou hast given,
And shall not soon depart.

He who, from zone to zone,
Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,
In the long way that I must tread alone,
Will lead my steps aright.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 27, 2023

1:04 min read
108

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDCD XEXE FXFX GHGH IJIJ KLKL MXMA
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,167
Words 212
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

William Cullen Bryant

William Cullen Bryant was an American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the New York Evening Post. more…

All William Cullen Bryant poems | William Cullen Bryant Books

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    "To a Waterfowl" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/40388/to-a-waterfowl>.

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    What is the term for the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.
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