At the Altar
I KNEEL before thine altar, Lord, and fain a gift would bring,But all I have is worthless and unfit for offering;A foolish heart, a foolish dream, a foolish, fruitless pain,—Such are my all; O Love of Love, do not the gift disdain!
And even as earthly monarchs do, who take the tribute given,And quick restore, by royal grace increased to seven times seven,So take, O Lord, my offering, and vouchsafe me presently,For emptiness thy fulness, for my hunger thy supply.
I lay my heart down at thy feet, that tired heart and old,Whose youthful throb has grown so faint, whose youthful fire so cold;Heart of the world’s heart, Lord of joy, and mighty Lord of pain,Take thou the gift, and quicken it, and give it back again.
My foolish dream, so dear, so prized, baptized in many tears,Loved even as sickly children are, the more for doubts and fears,O Lord, whose word is faithfulness eternal to endure,Take it; and give me, in its stead, the Hope that standeth sure.
The pain, that half was baffled will, which could not bear to die,And, stilled by day, would stir by night and wake me with its cry,That pain so close, so intimate, that Death could scarce destroy,I leave it, Lord, before thy feet; give me instead thy joy.
All empty-handed came I in, full-handed forth I go;Go thou beside me, Lord of Grace, and keep me ever so.Thanks are poor things for such wide good, but all my life is thine,—Thou who hast turned my stones to bread, my water into wine.
Words in this poem
- kneel v. i.
- To bend the knee; to fall or rest on the knees; -- sometimes with down. [OE. knelen, cneolien; akin to D. knielen, Dan. knæle. See Knee.]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- fruitless a.
- Lacking, or not bearing, fruit; barren; destitute of offspring; as, a fruitless tree or shrub; a fruitless marriage.
- vouchsafe v. t.
- To condescend to grant; to concede; to bestow. [Vouch + safe, that is, to vouch or answer for safety.]
- presently adv.
- At present; at this time; now.
- throb v. i.
- To beat, or pulsate, with more than usual force or rapidity; to beat in consequence of agitation; to palpitate; -- said of the heart, pulse, etc. [OE. ; of uncertain origin; cf. Russ. trepete a trembling, and E. trepidation.]
- 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]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
At the Altar 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, At the Altar, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/at-the-altar.html, id L23434.
Form and metre
At the Altar is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in iambic heptameter.
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 AABB bringA · offeringA · painB · disdainB
- 3 AABB oldA · coldA · painB · againB
- 4 AABB tearsA · fearsA · endureB · sureB
- 5 AABB dieA · cryA · destroyB · joyB
- 6 AABB goA · soA · thineB · wineB
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 heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I KNEEL before thine altar, Lord, and fain a gift would bring, | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| But all I have is worthless and unfit for offering; | 14 | ·····/˘·˘/·/˘˘ |
| A foolish heart, a foolish dream, a foolish, fruitless pain,— | 14 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Such are my all; O Love of Love, do not the gift disdain! | 14 | ············˘/ |
| And even as earthly monarchs do, who take the tribute given, | 15 | ·/·/˘/·····/˘/˘ |
| And quick restore, by royal grace increased to seven times seven, | 15 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/·/·/˘ |
| So take, O Lord, my offering, and vouchsafe me presently, | 15 | ·····/˘˘·˘/·/˘˘ |
| For emptiness thy fulness, for my hunger thy supply. | 14 | ·/˘˘·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| I lay my heart down at thy feet, that tired heart and old, | 14 | ·········/˘··· |
| Whose youthful throb has grown so faint, whose youthful fire so cold; | 14 | ·/˘······/˘/·· |
| Heart of the world’s heart, Lord of joy, and mighty Lord of pain, | 14 | ·········/˘··· |
| Take thou the gift, and quicken it, and give it back again. | 14 | ·····/˘·····˘/ |
| My foolish dream, so dear, so prized, baptized in many tears, | 14 | ·/˘·····˘/·/˘· |
| Loved even as sickly children are, the more for doubts and fears, | 14 | ·/·/˘/˘······· |
| O Lord, whose word is faithfulness eternal to endure, | 14 | ········˘/˘·˘/ |
| Take it; and give me, in its stead, the Hope that standeth sure. | 14 | ···········/˘· |
| The pain, that half was baffled will, which could not bear to die, | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| And, stilled by day, would stir by night and wake me with its cry, | 14 | ·············· |
| That pain so close, so intimate, that Death could scarce destroy, | 14 | ·····/˘·····˘/ |
| I leave it, Lord, before thy feet; give me instead thy joy. | 14 | ··········˘/·· |
| All empty-handed came I in, full-handed forth I go; | 14 | ·/˘/˘····/˘··· |
| Go thou beside me, Lord of Grace, and keep me ever so. | 14 | ··˘/·······/˘· |
| Thanks are poor things for such wide good, but all my life is thine,— | 14 | ·············· |
| Thou who hast turned my stones to bread, my water into wine. | 14 | ·········/˘··· |
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.