One Lesser Joy
WHAT is the dearest happiness of heaven?Ah, who shall say!So many wonders, and so wondrous fair,Await the soul who, just arrivèd thereIn trance of safety, sheltered and forgiven,Opens glad eyes to front the eternal day:
Relief from earth’s corroding discontent,Relief from pain,The satisfaction of perplexing fears,Full compensation for the long, hard years,Full understanding of the Lord’s intent,The things that were so puzzling made quite plain;
And all astonished joy as, to the spot,From further skies,Crowd our belovèd with white wingèd feet,And voices than the chiming harps more sweet,Faces whose fairness we had half forgot,And outstretched hands, and welcome in their eyes;—
Heart cannot image forth the endless storeWe may but guess;But this one lesser joy I hold my own:All shall be known in heaven; at last be knownThe best and worst of me; the less, the more,My own shall know—and shall not love me less.
Oh, haunting shadowy dread which underliesAll loving here!We inly shiver as we whisper low,“Oh, if they knew—if they could only know,Could see our naked souls without disguise—How they would shrink from us and pale with fear!”
The bitter thoughts we hold in leash withinBut do not kill;The petty anger and the mean desire,The jealousy which burns,—a smouldering fire,—The slimy trail of half-unnoted sin,The sordid wish which daunts the nobler will.
We fight each day with foes we dare not name.We fight, we fail!Noiseless the conflict and unseen of men;We rise, are beaten down, and rise again,And all the time we smile, we move, the same,And even to dearest eyes draw close the veil.
But in the blessed heaven these wars are past;Disguise is o’er!With new anointed vision, face to face,We shall see all, and clasped in close embraceShall watch the haunting shadow flee at last,And know as we are known, and fear no more.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- await v. t.
- To watch for; to look out for. [OF. awaitier, agaitier; (L. ad) + waitier, gaitier to watch, F. guetter. See Wait.]
- inly a.
- Internal; interior; secret. [OE. inlich, AS. inlic. See In.]
- smouldering a.
- Being in a state of suppressed activity; quiet but not dead.
- sordid a.
- Filthy; foul; dirty. [L. sordidus, fr. sordere to be filthy or dirty; probably akin to E. swart: cf. F. sordide. See Swart, a.]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
One Lesser Joy 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, One Lesser Joy, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/one-lesser-joy.html, id L23431.
Form and metre
One Lesser Joy is 48 lines in 8 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABCCAB, complete in 6 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 -ABB-A heaven · sayA · fairB · thereB · forgiven · dayA
- 2 ABCCAB discontentA · painB · fearsC · yearsC · intentA · plainB
- 3 ABCCAB spotA · skiesB · feetC · sweetC · forgotA · eyesB
- 4 ABCCAB storeA · guessB · ownC · knownC · moreA · lessB
- 5 ABCCAB underliesA · hereB · lowC · knowC · disguiseA · fearB
- 6 ABCCAB withinA · killB · desireC · fireC · sinA · willB
- 7 ABCCAB nameA · failB · menC · againC · sameA · veilB
- 8 A-BBA- pastA · o'er · faceB · embraceB · lastA · more
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 |
|---|---|---|
| WHAT is the dearest happiness of heaven? | 11 | ···/˘/˘˘·/˘ |
| Ah, who shall say! | 4 | ···· |
| So many wonders, and so wondrous fair, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Await the soul who, just arrivèd there | 9 | ˘/······· |
| In trance of safety, sheltered and forgiven, | 11 | ···/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Opens glad eyes to front the eternal day: | 11 | /˘·····˘/˘· |
| Relief from earth’s corroding discontent, | 10 | ˘/··˘/˘˘˘/ |
| Relief from pain, | 4 | ˘/·· |
| The satisfaction of perplexing fears, | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Full compensation for the long, hard years, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Full understanding of the Lord’s intent, | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| The things that were so puzzling made quite plain; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And all astonished joy as, to the spot, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| From further skies, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Crowd our belovèd with white wingèd feet, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| And voices than the chiming harps more sweet, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Faces whose fairness we had half forgot, | 10 | /˘·/˘···˘/ |
| And outstretched hands, and welcome in their eyes;— | 10 | ·˘/··/˘··· |
| Heart cannot image forth the endless store | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| We may but guess; | 4 | ···· |
| But this one lesser joy I hold my own: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| All shall be known in heaven; at last be known | 10 | ·····/···· |
| The best and worst of me; the less, the more, | 10 | ·········· |
| My own shall know—and shall not love me less. | 10 | ·········· |
| Oh, haunting shadowy dread which underlies | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| All loving here! | 4 | ·/˘· |
| We inly shiver as we whisper low, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| “Oh, if they knew—if they could only know, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Could see our naked souls without disguise— | 10 | ··//˘···˘/ |
| How they would shrink from us and pale with fear!” | 10 | ·········· |
| The bitter thoughts we hold in leash within | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| But do not kill; | 4 | ···· |
| The petty anger and the mean desire, | 11 | ·/˘/˘···˘/˘ |
| The jealousy which burns,—a smouldering fire,— | 10 | ·/˘······/ |
| The slimy trail of half-unnoted sin, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The sordid wish which daunts the nobler will. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| We fight each day with foes we dare not name. | 10 | ·········· |
| We fight, we fail! | 4 | ···· |
| Noiseless the conflict and unseen of men; | 10 | /˘·/˘·˘/·· |
| We rise, are beaten down, and rise again, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| And all the time we smile, we move, the same, | 10 | ·········· |
| And even to dearest eyes draw close the veil. | 10 | ·/·/˘····· |
| But in the blessed heaven these wars are past; | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Disguise is o’er! | 4 | ˘/·· |
| With new anointed vision, face to face, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| We shall see all, and clasped in close embrace | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Shall watch the haunting shadow flee at last, | 10 | ···/˘/···· |
| And know as we are known, and fear no more. | 10 | ·········· |
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