A Benediction
GOD give thee, love, thy heart’s desire!What better can I pray?For though love falter not, nor tire,And stand on guard all day,How little can it know or do,How little can it say!
How hard it strives, and how in vain,By hope and fear misled,To make the pathway soft and plainFor the dear feet to tread,To shield from sun-beat and from rainThe one beloved head!
Its wisdom is made foolishness;Its best intent goes wrong;It curses where it fain would bless,Is weak instead of strong,—Marring with sad, discordant sighsThe joyance of its song.
I do not dare to bless or ban,—I am too blind to see,—But this one little prayer I canPut up to God for thee,Because I know what fair, pure thingsThy inmost wishes be;
That what thy heart desires the mostIs what he loves to grant,—The love that counteth not its costIf any crave or want;The presence of the Holy Ghost,The soul’s inhabitant;
The wider vision of the mind;The spirit bright with sun;The temper like a fragrant wind,Chilling and grieving none;The quickened heart to know God’s willAnd on his errands run;
The ministry of little things,—Not counted mean or smallBy that dear alchemy which bringsSome grain of gold from all;The faith to wait as well as work,Whatever may befall.
So, sure of thee, and unafraid,I make my daily prayer,Nor fear that my blind zeal be madeThy injury or snare:God give thee, love, thy heart’s desire,And bless thee everywhere!
Words in this poem
- falter v. t.
- To thrash in the chaff; also, to cleanse or sift, as barley.
- pathway n.
- A footpath; a beaten track; any path or course. Also used figuratively.
- foolishness n.
- The quality of being foolish.
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- joyance n.
- Enjoyment; gayety; festivity; joyfulness. [OF. joiance.]
- inmost a.
- Deepest within; farthest from the surface or external part; innermost. [OE. innemest, AS. innemest, a double superlative form fr. inne within, fr. in in. The modern form is due to confusion with most. See In, and cf. Aftermost, Fore]
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Benediction is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Few More Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #49518; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Susan Coolidge, A Benediction, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/a-benediction.html, id L23406.
Form and metre
A Benediction is 48 lines in 8 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 ABAB-B desireA · prayB · tireA · dayB · do · sayB
- 2 ABABAB vainA · misledB · plainA · treadB · rainA · headB
- 3 ABAB-B foolishnessA · wrongB · blessA · strongB · sighs · songB
- 4 ABAB-B banA · seeB · canA · theeB · things · beB
- 5 AB-BAB mostA · grantB · cost · wantB · ghostA · inhabitantB
- 6 ABAB-B mindA · sunB · windA · noneB · will · runB
- 7 ABAB-B thingsA · smallB · bringsA · allB · work · befallB
- 8 ABAB-B unafraidA · prayerB · madeA · snareB · desire · everywhereB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| GOD give thee, love, thy heart’s desire! | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| What better can I pray? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| For though love falter not, nor tire, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| And stand on guard all day, | 6 | ······ |
| How little can it know or do, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| How little can it say! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| How hard it strives, and how in vain, | 8 | ········ |
| By hope and fear misled, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| To make the pathway soft and plain | 8 | ···/···· |
| For the dear feet to tread, | 6 | ······ |
| To shield from sun-beat and from rain | 8 | ········ |
| The one beloved head! | 5 | ··˘/· |
| Its wisdom is made foolishness; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Its best intent goes wrong; | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| It curses where it fain would bless, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Is weak instead of strong,— | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Marring with sad, discordant sighs | 8 | /˘··˘/˘· |
| The joyance of its song. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I do not dare to bless or ban,— | 8 | ········ |
| I am too blind to see,— | 6 | ······ |
| But this one little prayer I can | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Put up to God for thee, | 6 | ······ |
| Because I know what fair, pure things | 8 | ········ |
| Thy inmost wishes be; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| That what thy heart desires the most | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Is what he loves to grant,— | 6 | ······ |
| The love that counteth not its cost | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| If any crave or want; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The presence of the Holy Ghost, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The soul’s inhabitant; | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| The wider vision of the mind; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The spirit bright with sun; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The temper like a fragrant wind, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Chilling and grieving none; | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| The quickened heart to know God’s will | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And on his errands run; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The ministry of little things,— | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Not counted mean or small | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| By that dear alchemy which brings | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Some grain of gold from all; | 6 | ······ |
| The faith to wait as well as work, | 8 | ········ |
| Whatever may befall. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| So, sure of thee, and unafraid, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| I make my daily prayer, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Nor fear that my blind zeal be made | 8 | ········ |
| Thy injury or snare: | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| God give thee, love, thy heart’s desire, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| And bless thee everywhere! | 6 | ···/˘· |
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