harkens

Harkens is the third-person singular present tense of the verb to harken, meaning to listen attentively or to heed something. The sense involves hearing with intention, paying attention to a voice, instruction, or call. The form is primarily found in older, formal, or literary English; in everyday modern usage, speakers typically say listens or pays heed.

Harken and hearken are related variants of the same verb, with harken also appearing in some spellings. Hark can function as an interjection meaning “listen,” as in the archaic command “Hark!” The verb form harkens thus carries a similar family of meanings, but with a more explicit present-tense subject agreement.

In contemporary texts, harkens often signals a deliberately archaic or elevated tone, commonly appearing in poetry, religious writings, translations of older works, or stylistic prose that aims to evoke tradition. Example: “The elder harks to the crowd’s whispered counsel.” Modern equivalents would usually be “The elder listens to the crowd’s counsel” or “The elder heeds the crowd.”

Note that, outside of its verb use, harkens is not typically treated as a common noun or place name; it appears as a standard inflected verb form and, on rare occasions, may be encountered as a surname in historical records rather than as a widely recognized geographic or corporate term.