Undersong

noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An accompanying sound or strain; an accompaniment.

    "Accept the Off'ring I at diſtance bring, / With Harp ill-tun'd, and long thro' Age unſtrung, / Fit only to fill up ſome Under-ſong!"

  2. 2
    Subordinate and underlying idea, meaning or atmosphere; undertone. figuratively

    "Defective however and faulty must be the composition in prose, which you and I with all our study and attention cannot understand. In poetry it is not exactly so: the greater part of it must be intelligible to all: but in the very best there is often an undersong of sense, which none beside the poetical mind, or one deeply versed in its mysteries, can comprehend."

  3. 3
    The burden of a song; the chorus; the refrain. obsolete

    "It is not hard to observe that David’s Allelujahs are more then his Hosannas; his thanks more then his suits. Oft-times doth he praise God when be begs nothing: seldome ever doth he beg that favour for which he doth not raise up his Soul to an anticipation of Thanks: neither is this any other then the universal under-song of all his Heavenly Ditties [...]"

Etymology

From under- + song.

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