The Little Girl Lost
In futurityI prophetic seeThat the earth from sleep(Grave the sentence deep)
Shall arise, and seekfor her Maker meek;And the desert wildBecome a garden mild.
In the southern clime,Where the summer's primeNever fades away,Lovely Lyca lay.
Seven summers oldLovely Lyca told.She had wandered long,Hearing wild birds' song.
"Sweet sleep, come to meUnderneath this tree;Do father, mother, weep?Where can Lyca sleep?
"Lost in desert wildIs your little child.How can Lyca sleepIf her mother weep?
"If her heart does ache,Then let Lyca wake;If my mother sleep,Lyca shall not weep.
"Frowning, frowning night,O'er this desert brightLet thy moon arise,While I close my eyes."
Sleeping Lyca layWhile the beasts of prey,Come from caverns deep,Viewed the maid asleep.
The kingly lion stood,And the virgin viewed:Then he gambolled roundO'er the hallowed ground.
Leopards, tigers, playRound her as she lay;While the lion oldBowed his mane of gold,
And her breast did lickAnd upon her neck,From his eyes of flame,Ruby tears there came;
While the lionessLoosed her slender dress,And naked they conveyedTo caves the sleeping maid.
Words in this poem
- futurity n.
- State of being that is yet to come; future state.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- clime n.
- A climate; a tract or region of the earth. See Climate. [L. clima. See Climate.]
- ache n.
- A name given to several species of plants; as, smallage, wild celery, parsley. Holland. [F. ache, L. apium parsley.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Little Girl Lost is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of William Blake, Project Gutenberg ebook #574; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Blake, The Little Girl Lost, in Poems of William Blake (1783–1794), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #574, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/blake-poems/the-little-girl-lost.html, id L02004.
Form and metre
The Little Girl Lost is 52 lines in 13 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 10 of its 13 stanzas. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 35% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic trimeter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 --AA futurity · see · sleepA · deepA
- 2 AABB seekA · meekA · wildB · mildB
- 3 AABB climeA · primeA · awayB · layB
- 4 AABB oldA · toldA · longB · songB
- 5 AABB meA · treeA · weepB · sleepB
- 6 AABB wildA · childA · sleepB · weepB
- 7 AABB acheA · wakeA · sleepB · weepB
- 8 AABB nightA · brightA · ariseB · eyesB
- 9 AABB layA · preyA · deepB · asleepB
- 10 --AA stood · viewed · roundA · groundA
- 11 AABB playA · layA · oldB · goldB
- 12 --AA lick · neck · flameA · cameA
- 13 AABB lionessA · dressA · conveyedB · maidB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against trochaic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In futurity | 5 | ·˘/˘˘ |
| I prophetic see | 5 | ·˘/˘· |
| That the earth from sleep | 5 | ····· |
| (Grave the sentence deep) | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Shall arise, and seek | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| for her Maker meek; | 5 | ··/˘· |
| And the desert wild | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Become a garden mild. | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| In the southern clime, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Where the summer's prime | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Never fades away, | 5 | /˘·˘/ |
| Lovely Lyca lay. | 5 | /˘··· |
| Seven summers old | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| Lovely Lyca told. | 5 | /˘··· |
| She had wandered long, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Hearing wild birds' song. | 5 | /˘··· |
| "Sweet sleep, come to me | 5 | ····· |
| Underneath this tree; | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| Do father, mother, weep? | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Where can Lyca sleep? | 5 | ····· |
| "Lost in desert wild | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Is your little child. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| How can Lyca sleep | 5 | ····· |
| If her mother weep? | 5 | ··/˘· |
| "If her heart does ache, | 5 | ····· |
| Then let Lyca wake; | 5 | ····· |
| If my mother sleep, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Lyca shall not weep. | 5 | ····· |
| "Frowning, frowning night, | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| O'er this desert bright | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Let thy moon arise, | 5 | ···˘/ |
| While I close my eyes." | 5 | ····· |
| Sleeping Lyca lay | 5 | /˘··· |
| While the beasts of prey, | 5 | ····· |
| Come from caverns deep, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Viewed the maid asleep. | 5 | ···˘/ |
| The kingly lion stood, | 5 | ·/˘/· |
| And the virgin viewed: | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Then he gambolled round | 5 | ····· |
| O'er the hallowed ground. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Leopards, tigers, play | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| Round her as she lay; | 5 | ····· |
| While the lion old | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Bowed his mane of gold, | 5 | ····· |
| And her breast did lick | 5 | ····· |
| And upon her neck, | 5 | ····· |
| From his eyes of flame, | 5 | ····· |
| Ruby tears there came; | 5 | /˘··· |
| While the lioness | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Loosed her slender dress, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| And naked they conveyed | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| To caves the sleeping maid. | 6 | ···/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.