A Single Stitch
ONE stitch dropped as the weaver droveHis nimble shuttle to and fro,In and out, beneath, above,Till the pattern seemed to bud and growAs if the fairies had helping been,—One small stitch which could scarce be seen.But the one stitch dropped pulled the next stitch out,And a weak place grew in the fabric stout;And the perfect pattern was marred for ayeBy the one small stitch that was dropped that day.
One small life in God’s great plan,How futile it seems as the ages roll,Do what it may, or strive how it canTo alter the sweep of the infinite whole!A single stitch in an endless web,A drop in the ocean’s flow and ebb!But the pattern is rent where the stitch is lost,Or marred where the tangled threads have crossed;And each life that fails of its true intentMars the perfect plan that its Master meant.
Words in this poem
- drove n.
- A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- futile a.
- Talkative; loquacious; tattling. [L. futilis that easily pours out, that easily lets loose, vain, worthless, from the root of fundere to pour out: cf. F. futile. See Fuse, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Single Stitch 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 Single Stitch, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/a-single-stitch.html, id L23410.
Form and metre
A Single Stitch is 20 lines in 2 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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--BB-- drove · froA · above · growA · been · seen · outB · stoutB · aye · day
- 2 ABABCCDDEE planA · rollB · canA · wholeB · webC · ebbC · lostD · crossedD · intentE · meantE
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| ONE stitch dropped as the weaver drove | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| His nimble shuttle to and fro, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| In and out, beneath, above, | 7 | ······· |
| Till the pattern seemed to bud and grow | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| As if the fairies had helping been,— | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| One small stitch which could scarce be seen. | 8 | ········ |
| But the one stitch dropped pulled the next stitch out, | 10 | ·········· |
| And a weak place grew in the fabric stout; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And the perfect pattern was marred for aye | 10 | ··/·/˘···· |
| By the one small stitch that was dropped that day. | 10 | ·········· |
| One small life in God’s great plan, | 7 | ······· |
| How futile it seems as the ages roll, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Do what it may, or strive how it can | 9 | ········· |
| To alter the sweep of the infinite whole! | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| A single stitch in an endless web, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| A drop in the ocean’s flow and ebb! | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| But the pattern is rent where the stitch is lost, | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| Or marred where the tangled threads have crossed; | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| And each life that fails of its true intent | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Mars the perfect plan that its Master meant. | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
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.