The Sending of the Magi
In a far Eastern countryIt happened long of yore,Where a lone and level sunriseFlushes the desert floor,That three kings sat togetherAnd a spearman kept the door.
Caspar, whose wealth was countedBy city and caravan;With Melchior, the seerWho read the starry plan;And Balthasar, the blameless,Who loved his fellow man.
There while they talked, a suddenStrange rushing sound arose,And as with startled facesThey thought upon their foes,Three figures stood before themIn imperial repose.
One in flame-gold and one in blueAnd one in scarlet clear,With the almighty portentOf sunrise they drew near!And the kings made obeisanceWith hand on breast, in fear.
"Arise," said they, "we bring youGood tidings of great peace!To-day a power is wakenedWhose working must increase,Till fear and greed and maliceAnd violence shall cease."
The messengers were Michael,By whom all things are wroughtTo shape and hue; and GabrielWho is the lord of thought;And Rafael without whose loveAll toil must come to nought.
Then Rafael said to Balthasar,"In a country west from hereA lord is born in lowliness,In love without a peer.Take grievances and gifts to himAnd prove his kingship clear!
"By this sign ye shall know him;Within his mother's armAmong the sweet-breathed cattleHe slumbers without harm,While wicked hearts are troubledAnd tyrants take alarm."
And Gabriel said to Melchior,"My comrade, I will sendMy star to go before you,That ye may comprehendWhere leads your mystic learningIn a humaner trend."
And Michael said to Gaspar,"Thou royal builder, goWith tribute of thy riches!Though time shall overthrowThy kingdom, no undoingHis gentle might shall know."
Then while the kings' hearts greatenedAnd all the chamber shone,As when the hills at sundownTake a new glory onAnd the air thrills with purple,Their visitors were gone.
Then straightway up rose Gaspar,Melchior and Balthasar,And passed out through the murmurOf palace and bazar,To make without misgivingThe journey of the Star.
Words in this poem 16
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- spearman n.
- One who is armed with a spear. Acts xxiii. 23.
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- portent n.
- That which portends, or foretoken; esp., that which portends evil; a sign of coming calamity; an omen; a sign. [L. portentum. See Portend.]
- greed n.
- An eager desire or longing; greediness; as, a greed of gain. [Akin to Goth. grdus hunger, Icel. graedhr. sq. root34. See Greedy.]
- 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,]
- lowliness n.
- The state or quality of being lowly; humility; humbleness of mind. [From Lowly.]
- kingship n.
- The state, office, or dignity of a king; royalty. Landor.
- trend v. i.
- To have a particular direction; to run; to stretch; to tend; as, the shore of the sea trends to the southwest. [OE. trenden to roll or turn about; akin to OFries. trind, trund, round, Dan. & Sw. trind, AS. trendel a circle, ring, and E. trendle, trundle.]
- undoing n.
- The reversal of what has been done.
- sundown n.
- The setting of the sun; sunset.
- straightway adv.
- Immediately; without loss of time; without delay.
- bazar n.
- In the East, an exchange, marketplace, or assemblage of shops where goods are exposed for sale. [Per. bazar market.]
- misgiving n.
- Evil premonition; doubt; distrust.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Sending of the Magi is in the public domain. This text is taken from Later Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #33417; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Bliss Carman, The Sending of the Magi, in Later Poems (1921), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #33417, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carman-later-poems/the-sending-of-the-magi.html, id L11076.
Form and metre
The Sending of the Magi is 72 lines in 12 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.8 syllables. 27 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 46% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic 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 -A-A-A country · yoreA · sunrise · floorA · together · doorA
- 2 -A-A-A counted · caravanA · seer · planA · blameless · manA
- 3 -AAA-A sudden · aroseA · facesA · foesA · them · reposeA
- 4 -A-A-A blue · clearA · portent · nearA · obeisance · fearA
- 5 -A-AAA you · peaceA · wakened · increaseA · maliceA · ceaseA
- 6 -A-A-A michael · wroughtA · gabriel · thoughtA · love · noughtA
- 7 -A-A-A balthasar · hereA · lowliness · peerA · him · clearA
- 8 -A-A-A him · armA · cattle · harmA · troubled · alarmA
- 9 -A-A-A melchior · sendA · you · comprehendA · learning · trendA
- 10 -A-A-A gaspar · goA · riches · overthrowA · undoing · knowA
- 11 ---A-A greatened · shone · sundown · onA · purple · goneA
- 12 ---A-A gaspar · balthasar · murmur · bazarA · misgiving · starA
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 iambic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In a far Eastern country | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| It happened long of yore, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Where a lone and level sunrise | 8 | ····/˘/· |
| Flushes the desert floor, | 6 | /˘·˘/· |
| That three kings sat together | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| And a spearman kept the door. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Caspar, whose wealth was counted | 7 | /····/˘ |
| By city and caravan; | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| With Melchior, the seer | 6 | ·˘/˘·· |
| Who read the starry plan; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And Balthasar, the blameless, | 7 | ·/˘˘·/˘ |
| Who loved his fellow man. | 7 | ··˘·/˘· |
| There while they talked, a sudden | 8 | ····˘·/˘ |
| Strange rushing sound arose, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| And as with startled faces | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| They thought upon their foes, | 6 | ······ |
| Three figures stood before them | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| In imperial repose. | 7 | ·˘/˘˘˘/ |
| One in flame-gold and one in blue | 8 | ········ |
| And one in scarlet clear, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| With the almighty portent | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| Of sunrise they drew near! | 6 | ·/···· |
| And the kings made obeisance | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| With hand on breast, in fear. | 6 | ······ |
| "Arise," said they, "we bring you | 7 | ˘/····· |
| Good tidings of great peace! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| To-day a power is wakened | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| Whose working must increase, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Till fear and greed and malice | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And violence shall cease." | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| The messengers were Michael, | 7 | ·/˘˘·/˘ |
| By whom all things are wrought | 6 | ······ |
| To shape and hue; and Gabriel | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Who is the lord of thought; | 6 | ······ |
| And Rafael without whose love | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| All toil must come to nought. | 6 | ······ |
| Then Rafael said to Balthasar, | 9 | ··˘/··/˘˘ |
| "In a country west from here | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| A lord is born in lowliness, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| In love without a peer. | 6 | ······ |
| Take grievances and gifts to him | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| And prove his kingship clear! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| "By this sign ye shall know him; | 7 | ······· |
| Within his mother's arm | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Among the sweet-breathed cattle | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| He slumbers without harm, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| While wicked hearts are troubled | 8 | ·/˘˘··/˘ |
| And tyrants take alarm." | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| And Gabriel said to Melchior, | 9 | ·/˘˘··˘/˘ |
| "My comrade, I will send | 6 | ·/···· |
| My star to go before you, | 7 | ······· |
| That ye may comprehend | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Where leads your mystic learning | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| In a humaner trend." | 6 | ······ |
| And Michael said to Gaspar, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| "Thou royal builder, go | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| With tribute of thy riches! | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Though time shall overthrow | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Thy kingdom, no undoing | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| His gentle might shall know." | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Then while the kings' hearts greatened | 8 | ·······˘ |
| And all the chamber shone, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| As when the hills at sundown | 7 | ·····/· |
| Take a new glory on | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And the air thrills with purple, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Their visitors were gone. | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Then straightway up rose Gaspar, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Melchior and Balthasar, | 7 | ˘/˘·/˘˘ |
| And passed out through the murmur | 8 | ··˘···/˘ |
| Of palace and bazar, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| To make without misgiving | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| The journey of the Star. | 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.