The Full Text of “To a Waterfowl”
1Whither, 'midst falling dew,
2While glow the heavens with the last steps of day,
3Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue
4Thy solitary way?
5Vainly the fowler’s eye
6Might mark thy distant flight, to do thee wrong,
7As, darkly seen against the crimson sky,
8Thy figure floats along.
9Seek’st thou the plashy brink
10Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide,
11Or where the rocking billows rise and sink
12On the chaféd ocean side?
13There is a Power, whose care
14Teaches thy way along that pathless coast,—
15The desert and illimitable air
16Lone wandering, but not lost.
17All day thy wings have fanned,
18At that far height, the cold thin atmosphere;
19Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land,
20Though the dark night is near.
21And soon that toil shall end,
22Soon shalt thou find a summer home, and rest,
23And scream among thy fellows; reeds shall bend,
24Soon, o’er thy sheltered nest.
25Thou’rt gone, the abyss of heaven
26Hath swallowed up thy form, yet, on my heart
27Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given,
28And shall not soon depart.
29He, who, from zone to zone,
30Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,
31In the long way that I must trace alone,
32Will lead my steps aright.
The Full Text of “To a Waterfowl”
1Whither, 'midst falling dew,
2While glow the heavens with the last steps of day,
3Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue
4Thy solitary way?
5Vainly the fowler’s eye
6Might mark thy distant flight, to do thee wrong,
7As, darkly seen against the crimson sky,
8Thy figure floats along.
9Seek’st thou the plashy brink
10Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide,
11Or where the rocking billows rise and sink
12On the chaféd ocean side?
13There is a Power, whose care
14Teaches thy way along that pathless coast,—
15The desert and illimitable air
16Lone wandering, but not lost.
17All day thy wings have fanned,
18At that far height, the cold thin atmosphere;
19Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land,
20Though the dark night is near.
21And soon that toil shall end,
22Soon shalt thou find a summer home, and rest,
23And scream among thy fellows; reeds shall bend,
24Soon, o’er thy sheltered nest.
25Thou’rt gone, the abyss of heaven
26Hath swallowed up thy form, yet, on my heart
27Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given,
28And shall not soon depart.
29He, who, from zone to zone,
30Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,
31In the long way that I must trace alone,
32Will lead my steps aright.
-
“To a Waterfowl” Introduction
-
"To a Waterfowl," by the American poet William Cullen Bryant, first appeared in a literary journal in 1818 before being published in Bryant's 1821 collection Poems. In the poem, a speaker watches a waterfowl fly across the sky and reflects on the similarity between the bird's long, lonely journey and the speaker's life. The bird's perilous flight also pushes the speaker to express faith in God, who, the poem argues, guides all creatures through difficult times. Bryant allegedly wrote the poem after seeing a bird in flight while walking in Cummington, Massachusetts, the town where he grew up.
-
-
“To a Waterfowl” Summary
-
Addressing the waterfowl referenced in the title, the speaker wonders where the bird is going, as dew falls and the sky glows at sunset. In particular, the speaker notes the apparent distance of the bird's flight and the fact that it is all alone.
The speaker notes that a fowler (someone who hunts birds) might unsuccessfully aim at the waterfowl to shoot it down because the bird is visible against the sunset, flying on its journey.
The speaker wonders whether the waterfowl's destination is a marshy, weed-filled lake, the bank of a wide river, or a coastline where waves crash on the shore.
According to the speaker, a higher power (namely, God) benevolently guides the waterfowl as it flies over a coast with no clear route. The speaker stresses that, although the sky the bird flies through is empty and limitless, the bird may be alone but is not truly lost because God is guiding it.
The bird has flown all day, the speaker notes, high in the sky where the air is cold and thin. However, the waterfowl has not given up and descended to the land out of fatigue, even though night has almost fallen.
The speaker assures the waterfowl that its difficult journey will soon be over and that it will be able to find a haven in warmer climates. There, it will be able to rest and sing or squawk among other waterfowl, as reeds or tall grasses create a roof over its nest.
Now, the speaker can no longer see the waterfowl, as it has vanished into the sky. However, the bird has taught the speaker a lesson, which the speaker will not forget anytime soon.
God, the speaker has learned, who guides the waterfowl from one place to another through the endless sky, will also lead the speaker through their own long and solitary journey.
-
-
“To a Waterfowl” Themes
-
Faith in God
“To a Waterfowl” expresses the speaker’s faith in God. Watching a waterbird in flight, the speaker reflects that this animal’s long, lonely journey to its cozy nest mirrors the speaker’s own difficult journey through life. The speaker believes that both humans and waterbirds can trust in God to get them where they’re going, even when the path seems dangerous. Such faith in God’s guidance, the speaker argues, offers comfort in times of hardship and solitude.
The waterfowl’s perilous flight toward its nest represents humanity’s journey toward heaven—and the fact that this flight is full of challenges thus speaks to the fact that life isn’t always easy. The “fowler,” an ominous figure who seeks “to do [the waterfowl] wrong” by hunting it, is just one of many threats the bird faces. It must also fly through the “desert and illimitable” air, for example, which is “cold [and] thin.” Even the destinations the speaker imagines for the bird appear characterized by ruggedness, such as a “chaféd,” or weather-beaten, oceanside.
The speaker identifies with all these struggles, seeing them as a reflection of the speaker’s own. That is, the bird's journey reflects the “long way” that also awaits human beings as they navigate through life’s many difficulties “alone.”
At the same time, the speaker sees the bird’s flight as evidence of the caring and benevolent presence of God. Though the waterfowl’s path seems unclear and scary, the speaker marvels at its “certain flight”—that is, the unflagging faith that it will reach its destination. Witnessing such confidence as it navigates the challenges of its journey, the speaker realizes that the waterfowl is “lone wandering, but not lost.” God “teaches” and “guides” the waterfowl, giving it a sense of direction that keeps it from losing its way.
In fact, the speaker seems to suggest that such faith or certainty is its own form of companionship—that faith in a higher power can act as a sort of reassuring presence that overcomes solitude or individual hardship. Eventually, the speaker believes the waterfowl will reach its “summer home,” a “sheltered nest” where it will be surrounded by its fellow birds. For the speaker, such a peaceful and comforting nest where the bird is no longer alone stands as proof of heaven: just as the waterfowl is eventually “swallowed” by the “abyss of heaven,” so too will the speaker reach an afterlife beyond earthly struggle.
The speaker thus takes a “lesson” from this bird: people can and should trust God even when life seems lonely, confusing, and dangerous. The same force that guides the waterfowl “will lead [the speaker’s] steps aright.”
- See where this theme is active in the poem.
-
-
Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “To a Waterfowl”
-
Lines 1-4
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?The first stanza of "To a Waterfowl" sets the stage for the poem by conjuring a sense of wonder and awe—two things that are directly related to the speaker's faith in God.
The poem’s first word, “Whither,” immediately establishes this sense of wonder, as the speaker questions where the waterfowl is flying. The speaker also uses vivid imagery here to evoke the lushness and beauty of the natural world: the bird flies “‘midst falling dew,” and "the heavens" (that is, the sky) “glow” from “rosy depths.” Readers can picture the waterfowl soaring through the early morning air, the earth below damp with dew while the sun sets in the distance (creating those "rosy depths" on the horizon).
Such descriptions aren't just beautiful in themselves: they also suggest that nature is something divine. All this beauty is a testament to God's creation, in the speaker's mind, and the mention of "the heavens" in particular evokes God's presence.
The first lines, as well as the title, also use apostrophe: the speaker of the poem does not just muse about the waterfowl but directly addresses the bird, speaking to it as though it could respond (when, of course, it can't). Framing the poem in this way suggests that the waterfowl holds significant meaning for the speaker—that, beyond simply being an animal that the speaker sees in the world, the speaker seems to identify with the waterfowl as an equal and empathizes with its lonely, "solitary" flight.
The beginning of the poem also establishes the poem's meter. For the most part, the poem alternates between lines of iambic trimeter (the first and fourth line of each stanza) and iambic pentameter (the second and third lines of each stanza). An iamb is a poetic foot with an unstressed-stressed beat pattern; trimeter means there are three iambs, four da-DUMs, per line, while pentameter simply means that there are five.
That said, the meter isn't all that regular in the poem! The first two lines, in fact, immediately mess with this overarching meter:
Whither, 'midst falling dew
While glow the heavens with the last steps of day,That first foot is a trochee (a foot with a stressed-unstressed pattern, essentially the opposite of an iamb). The speaker uses lots of trochees throughout the poem, in fact, and also sometimes leaving extra syllables at the end of a line. In the next line, the most natural reading places two unstressed beats on "with the" (something called a pyrrhic) and two stressed beats on "last steps" (something called a spondee). Also note that "heavens" is read as a one-syllable word here (heav'ns).
In any case, things are clearly not all that strict meter-wise. Because the poem focuses on the struggles of the waterfowl and the speaker, such fluctuating meter could embody these struggles, as the poet struggles to reach the perfect meter just as the waterfowl struggles to reach its destination.
-
Lines 5-8
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. -
Lines 9-12
Seek’st thou the plashy brink
Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide,
Or where the rocking billows rise and sink
On the chaféd ocean side? -
Lines 13-16
There is a Power, whose care
Teaches thy way along that pathless coast,—
The desert and illimitable air
Lone wandering, but not lost. -
Lines 17-20
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. -
Lines 21-24
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. -
Lines 25-28
Thou’rt gone, the abyss of heaven
Hath swallowed up thy form, yet, on my heart
Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given,
And shall not soon depart. -
Lines 29-32
He, who, from zone to zone,
Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,
In the long way that I must trace alone,
Will lead my steps aright.
-
-
“To a Waterfowl” Symbols
-
The Waterfowl's Journey
The waterfowl is the main symbol of the poem. The bird and its path symbolically represent the speaker and, more broadly, the faith the speaker believes is required to get through the journey of life—with all its hardships, dangers, and beauty.
The bird flies through the sky alone, which reflects the speaker's idea that human beings must "trace" the "long way"—the road of life—on their own. This journey is filled with obstacles, represented here by the fowler, the "cold thin atmosphere," and the bird's general weariness.
Yet the bird keeps on flying through adversity, even when there seems to be no clear path forward. It never flags in its perseverance to reach its destination, refusing to "stoop [...] to the welcome land" below (which might represent the temptation to lose faith in God). The waterfowl, like a pious person, has faith that it will reach its goal, therefore standing as a symbol of the faith people need to have in God to navigate their own personal struggles. The bird is never really alone, which symbollically reflects the speaker's belief that people are never really alone so long s they trust in God.
- See where this symbol appears in the poem.
-
The Sky
The sky symbolizes heaven and the unknowability of God.
In lines 2 and 25, the speaker actually refers to the sky directly as "the heavens." While such language is figurative, it contributes to a sense that the sky is linked to the divine. Yet, at the same time, the sky is “illimitable,” "pathless," or an “abyss”—too large fully grasp or understand, much like God. Because it is impossible to fully conceive of heaven, the poem suggests, reaching it requires faith. People, like the waterfowl, must strive toward heaven by trusting in God's guidance, even when the way seems "pathless."
- See where this symbol appears in the poem.
-
-
“To a Waterfowl” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
-
Apostrophe
The entirety of "To a Waterfowl" is an apostrophe, as the speaker sends the whole poem directly addressing a waterfowl. The bird, of course, can't respond to the speaker, but that doesn't matter: the animal's mere existence reinforces the speaker's faith.
On the one hand, this apostrophe makes the poem feel more intimate, as though readers are overhearing a private conversation. The speaker of the poem also identifies with the waterfowl, viewing its journey as a direct reflection of the speaker's own. Addressing the waterfowl in personal terms thus deepens the sense of a relationship or empathy between the speaker and the bird.
Apostrophe also reflects the speaker's sense of connection with God. The waterfowl here is not merely significant, but holy, a manifestation of God's power. In directing the poem to the bird, the speaker is in a sense addressing a part of God.
Finally, the speaker drawing a "lesson" from the waterfowl is an idea that stems from the Romantic notion that the natural world can provide insights into the divine world. Through apostrophe, the speaker regards the waterfowl with interpersonal respect, viewing the waterfowl is a teacher who can provide useful inferences for the speaker's own life and faith.
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Alliteration
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Metaphor
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Personification
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Anaphora
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Imagery
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Caesura
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Enjambment
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Consonance
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
-
"To a Waterfowl" Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Whither
- 'Midst
- Dost
- Thou
- Thy
- Vainly
- Fowler
- Mark
- Thee
- Seek'st
- Plashy
- Brink
- Marge
- Billows
- Chaféd
- Desert
- Illimitable
- Thou'rt
- Abyss
- Hath
- Hast
- Aright
-
Archaic form of "where."
- See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.
-
Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “To a Waterfowl”
-
Form
"To a Waterfowl" is made up of eight four-line stanzas, or quatrains.
The stanzas also use an alternating (ABAB) rhyme scheme and iambic pentameter. Typically, this kind of stanza is referred to as a heroic or elegiac quatrain. However, the poem deviates in one key way: rather than using iambic pentameter in every line, as is standard for a heroic quatrain, the first and fourth line of each stanza use iambic trimeter (which basically means these lines are much shorter).
We'll talk about that in more detail in the Meter section of this guide, but what's important to note here is that this form creates a repetitive rise and fall in each stanza—from a short trimeter line, to two longer pentameter lines, and then back to a trimeter line. This gives the poem a rhythmic, up-down sensation both sonically and visually that mirrors the flapping of a birds' wings, reflecting the waterfowl's arduous, long journey.
Also note how this steady, controlled form reflects the control that the speaker believes God has over life. The fact that the stanzas duplicate themselves, over and over again, contributes to the sense that there is a higher "Power" driving both the poem and the waterfowl.
-
Meter
Each stanza of "To a Waterfowl" sandwiches two lines of iambic pentameter between lines of iambic trimeter. An iamb is a poetic foot with an unstressed-stressed syllable pattern; pentameter means there are five iambs (for a total of ten syllables) per line, while trimeter means there are three iambs (for a total of six syllables) per line.
The use of iambs evokes a bird in flight, as the repetition of unstressed-stressed syllables mirrors the rise and fall of wings.
However, the poem often fails to meet the rigors of its own meter, making alterations or variations that give it a fluid, imperfect feel. Take lines 5-6:
Vainly the fowler’s eye
Might mark thy distant flight, to do thee wrong,"Vainly" is actually a trochee, which is the opposite of an iamb: a stressed beat followed by an unstressed beat. This adds emphasis to just how futile—how in vain—the fowler's attempt to shoot down the bird is.
The first three lines of the fifth stanza again feature some interesting variations on the poem's meter:
All day thy wings have fanned
At that far height, the cold thin atmosphere;
Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land,The first line uses perfect iambic trimeter, featuring three feet of unstressed-stressed syllables. Like the content of the line, the meter reflects the way the bird has flown all day, without stopping.
However, in the second line, things begin to change. While it might be read as regular iambic pentameter, some readers might also hear extra stressed beats on "far" and "cold." Such stresses would evoke the intense effort required of the bird's journey. There's also a comma after the second foot ("far height,"), which causes a clear interruption in the meter. This pause seems to suggest a hesitation in the bird's flight, a moment of doubt or difficulty in which the endless rhythm of its wings is momentarily interrupted.
Such a feeling is only heightened in the third line, as two commas are inserted, one in the middle of the line's second foot ("not, wea-") and another after "weary." It is as if the waterfowl's flight has faltered again: after a long day of toil, its wings have missed a beat, and it has to struggle to regain its composure.
Such variations in meter regularly occur throughout the poem, capturing the struggle of the waterfowl, and of the speaker, to stay on the right path.
-
Rhyme Scheme
"To a Waterfowl" follows a perfect ABAB rhyme scheme, with each stanza using its own set of rhyme sounds. For example, the first three stanzas' rhyme scheme is:
ABAB CDCD EFEF
...And so on.
This steady rhyme scheme stands in notable contrast to the imperfect, variable meter within the poem. If the poem's imperfect meter represents the struggles of the speaker and the waterfowl to reach their destinations, then the perfect rhymes reveal that there is still a system pervading the poem.
That is, even though lines 1 and 2 differ in length, for instance, and even though each stanza has clear imperfections in meter—two signs that seem to indicate chaos or randomness—the poem still follows an overarching structure or pattern. This resembles the lesson the speaker heeds from the poem: that, even in the midst of one's struggles, there may be a larger power guiding them.
-
-
“To a Waterfowl” Speaker
-
The speaker of "To a Waterfowl" is anonymous and genderless. While an argument can be made that it is William Cullen Bryant himself, who claimed to have thought of the poem after seeing a duck in flight while he was on a walk, there isn't anything in the poem itself that would assign the speaker a specific identity.
What is clear is that the speaker is someone who has a keen eye and deep appreciation for nature, and is also very religious. The speaker's vivid descriptions of the natural world are attuned to the smallest of details, from falling dew to the reeds of a nest. Likewise, the speaker addresses the poem directly to the waterfowl of the title, regarding it with an apparent reverence.
However, the speaker's appreciation of the waterfowl is not merely rooted in a love of nature: in fact, the speaker seems to commiserate with the bird because the speaker also faces a long, difficult journey. The speaker's true attachment to the waterfowl, therefore, stems from the speaker's faith: as shown in lines 29-32, the speaker sees the bird's journey as proof of God's guidance and ability to lead the speaker through their own individual journey.
By keeping the speaker anonymous, the poem's message about faith in God also feels universal: the speaker is talking to, and about, everyone.
-
-
“To a Waterfowl” Setting
-
"To a Waterfowl" is set somewhere in the outdoors, as the speaker apparently watches a bird flying across the sky. The speaker notes that a hunter may be nearby, indicating that the setting is also likely outside of a city or urban area. Specifically, the poem takes place over a period of time, from twilight to nightfall, as the waterfowl first flies against the backdrop of a sunset and ultimately vanishes into the darkness of night.
Although the exact location of the speaker is never revealed, one could also argue that a portion of the poem takes place in the speaker's mind, as several stanzas are devoted to imagining the waterfowl's possible destinations.
-
-
Literary and Historical Context of “To a Waterfowl”
-
Literary Context
William Cullen Bryant was one of the Fireside Poets, a group of American poets in the 19th century largely based in the Northeast United States. The group is generally considered to include Bryant, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittier, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and James Russell Lowell. The Fireside Poets were immensely popular—the "fireside" moniker arose from the frequency at which people read their books around the fire at home—and they were the first group of American poets to rival the British in international fame.
The Fireside Poets were generally stuck to traditional rhyme schemes and meters. The group emerged at the height of Romanticism, when British poets like John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and William Wordsworth were writing poetry that focused on individual emotional experiences and the wonder and power of the natural world.
In the United States, writers and thinkers were exploring similar notions. Transcendentalists like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, for example, saw society as corrupting individuals and found value in returning to nature. "To a Waterfowl" embodies many of these themes through its focus on landscapes and wildlife and God's presence in nature.
Historical Context
Bryant wrote "To a Waterfowl" in 1815, less than 40 years after the United States declared independence from Great Britain. Bryant himself was born only five years after the U.S. ratified the Constitution. In many ways, the U.S. was still forging its culture, trying to form an identity that was distinct from British influence, and Bryant was one of the first poets to be revered as an "American" poet.
Similarly, the United States had just emerged from the War of 1812, where they fought the British. While "To a Waterfowl" isn't an overtly nationalist or political poem, it embodies many ideas that were popular in the American conscience at the time, such as individuality and an ability to blaze a trail alone as well as faith in God and the notion that America and its citizens were guided by divine providence.
-
-
More “To a Waterfowl” Resources
-
External Resources
-
The Waterfowl — Learn more about the species of bird that the speaker addresses throughout the poem.
-
Biography of William Cullen Bryant — A detailed account of Bryant's life and work, via the Poetry Foundation
-
A Brief Guide to the Fireside Poets — An overview of the Fireside Poets from the Academy of American Poets.
-
Why Animals Don't Get Lost — A New Yorker article on contemporary research into the ways birds and other animals navigate.
-
-
LitCharts on Other Poems by William Cullen Bryant
-
