The Tune, by Sara Teasdale

Teasdale wrote “The Tune” in October 1923, and it was published in Poetry in April 1924. It was later collected in Dark of the Moon (1926). Wrote William Drake in his biography of the poet: “In late October, she wrote on of the nearly perfect lyrics typical of her later work, ‘The Tune.’ The ‘certain tune that my life plays’ rises in an arc with mounting swiftness until it pauses at the top, “High over time, high even over doubt,’ then ‘faltering blindly down the air, goes out.’ It combines the abstractness of music with a physical sense of movement and balance, like a path of a skyrocket, although nowhere is such a comparison actually suggested. She becomes a detached observer of the pattern of her own life, watching without emotion its predictable end.”

Here is a rough demo:



Chord Sheet (PDF): The Tune, by Sara Teasdale


A 
 
Bm 
 
G 
 
D 
 
A 
I know a  
Bm 
certain 
 
tune
G 
that my lif
D 
 
plays;
A 
Over 
 
an
Bm 
 
over
G 
I’ve heard it  
A 
start
D 
With all the  
G 
wavering 
 
 
Bm 
loveliness of  
A 
viols,
G 
And gain in  
D 
swiftness like a  
Bm 
runner’s 
 
heart.
A 
 
C 
 
G 
 
D 
 
A 
It climbs and  
Bm 
climbs;
G 
I watch it  
D 
sway in climbi
Bm 
ng
 
High over  
A 
time, high even over  
Bm 
doubt.
A 
D 
It has all  
G 
heaven to it
Bm 
self—it 
 
p
A 
auses,
G 
And 
 
falter
D 
ing blindly  
Bm 
down the air, goes  
A 
out.
 
C 
 
G 
 
D 

© 2021, Mark R. Adams. All rights reserved.