Pippa's Song

                          Pippa's Song
                       Robert Browning 

 

"THE year 's at the spring, And day 's at the morn; Morning 's at seven; The hill-side 's dew-pearl'd; The lark 's on the wing; The snail 's on the thorn; God 's in His heaven— All 's right with the world!"
Pippa's little song says that everything is as it should be in the world of man and nature and that everything is full of promise. Moreover, God is watching over His creation. Therefore, the song says in presenting the theme, all is right with the world.    The eight-line poem has a neat little structure. First, all the lines contain five syllables. Second, the subject of each clause is a noun that unites with the verb is to form a contraction (year's, day's, Morning's, etc.). Third, a prepositional phrase ends each line except the fourth. Fourth, the first three lines center on time; the second three, on nature; and the last two, on God and His dominion.  The balanced rhyme scheme is abcd, abcd. All the rhymes are masculine, consisting of a single syllable at the end of one line rhyming with a single syllable at the end of another line. (In feminine rhyme, two syllables rhyme, as in in singing and ringing, flower and power, and razzle and dazzle.)