Here and There
WE sit beside the lower feast to-day;She at the higher.Our voices falter as we bend to pray;In the great choirOf happy saints she sings, and does not tire.
We break the bread of patience, and the wineOf tears we share;She tastes the vintage of that glorious vineWhose branches fairSet for the healing of all nations are.
I wonder is she sorry for our pain,Or if, grown wise,She wondering smiles, and counts them idle, vain,—These heavy sighs,These longings for her face and happy eyes.
Smile on, then, darling! As God wills, is best.We loose our hold,Content to leave thee to the deeper rest,The safer fold,To joy’s immortal youth while we grow old;
Content the cold and wintry day to bear,The icy wave,And know thee in immortal summer there,Beyond the grave;Content to give thee to the Love that gave.
Words in this poem
- falter v. t.
- To thrash in the chaff; also, to cleanse or sift, as barley.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- wintry a.
- Suitable to winter; resembling winter, or what belongs to winter; brumal; hyemal; cold; stormy; wintery. [AS. wintrig.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Here and There 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, Here and There, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/here-and-there.html, id L23441.
Form and metre
Here and There is 25 lines in 5 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABB, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 ABABB dayA · higherB · prayA · choirB · tireB
- 2 ABAB- wineA · shareB · vineA · fairB · are
- 3 ABABB painA · wiseB · vainA · sighsB · eyesB
- 4 ABABB bestA · holdB · restA · foldB · oldB
- 5 ABABB bearA · waveB · thereA · graveB · gaveB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| WE sit beside the lower feast to-day; | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| She at the higher. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Our voices falter as we bend to pray; | 10 | //˘/˘····· |
| In the great choir | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Of happy saints she sings, and does not tire. | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| We break the bread of patience, and the wine | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Of tears we share; | 4 | ···· |
| She tastes the vintage of that glorious vine | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Whose branches fair | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Set for the healing of all nations are. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| I wonder is she sorry for our pain, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·/· |
| Or if, grown wise, | 4 | ···· |
| She wondering smiles, and counts them idle, vain,— | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| These heavy sighs, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| These longings for her face and happy eyes. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Smile on, then, darling! As God wills, is best. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| We loose our hold, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Content to leave thee to the deeper rest, | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| The safer fold, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| To joy’s immortal youth while we grow old; | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Content the cold and wintry day to bear, | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| The icy wave, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And know thee in immortal summer there, | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| Beyond the grave; | 4 | ···· |
| Content to give thee to the Love that gave. | 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.