Restfulness
LONG time my restless wishes fought and strove,Long time I bent me to the heavy taskOf winning such full recompense of loveAs dream could paint, importunate fancy ask.
Morning and night a hunger filled my soul;Ever my eager hands went out to sue;And still I sped toward a shifting goal,And still the horizon widened as I flew.
There was no joy in love, but jealous wrath;I walked athirst all day, and did not heedThe wayside brooks which followed by my pathAnd held their cooling threadlets to my need.
But now, these warring fancies left behind,I sit in clear air with the sun o’erhead,And take my share, repining not, and findPerpetual feast in just such daily bread:
Asking no more than what unasked is sent;Freedom is dearer still than love may be;And I, my dearest, am at last content,Content to love thee and to leave thee free.
Love me then not, for pity nor for prayer,But as the sunshine loveth and the rain,Which speed them gladly through the upper airBecause the gracious pathway is made plain.
And as we watch the slant lines, gold and dun,Bridge heaven’s distance all intent to bless,And cavil not if we or other oneShall have the larger portion or the less,
So with unvexèd eye I mark and seeWhere blessed and blessing your sweet days are spent;And though another win more love from thee,Having my share I am therewith content.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- athirst a.
- Wanting drink; thirsty. [OE. ofthurst, AS. ofpyrsted, p. p. of ofpyrstan; pref. of-, intensive + pyrstan to thirst. See Thirst.]
- wayside n.
- The side of the way; the edge or border of a road or path.
- cooling a.
- Adapted to cool and refresh; allaying heat.
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- gladly adv.
- Preferably; by choice. [From Glad, a.]
- pathway n.
- A footpath; a beaten track; any path or course. Also used figuratively.
- 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,]
- therewith adv.
- With that or this.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Restfulness 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, Restfulness, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/restfulness.html, id L23436.
Form and metre
Restfulness is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 7 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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 strove · taskA · love · askA
- 2 ABAB soulA · sueB · goalA · flewB
- 3 ABAB wrathA · heedB · pathA · needB
- 4 ABAB behindA · o'erheadB · findA · breadB
- 5 ABAB sentA · beB · contentA · freeB
- 6 ABAB prayerA · rainB · airA · plainB
- 7 ABAB dunA · blessB · oneA · lessB
- 8 ABAB seeA · spentB · theeA · contentB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| LONG time my restless wishes fought and strove, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Long time I bent me to the heavy task | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Of winning such full recompense of love | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| As dream could paint, importunate fancy ask. | 11 | ····˘/˘˘/˘· |
| Morning and night a hunger filled my soul; | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Ever my eager hands went out to sue; | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| And still I sped toward a shifting goal, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And still the horizon widened as I flew. | 11 | ···˘/˘/˘··· |
| There was no joy in love, but jealous wrath; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I walked athirst all day, and did not heed | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| The wayside brooks which followed by my path | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| And held their cooling threadlets to my need. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| But now, these warring fancies left behind, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| I sit in clear air with the sun o’erhead, | 10 | ·········· |
| And take my share, repining not, and find | 10 | ·········· |
| Perpetual feast in just such daily bread: | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| Asking no more than what unasked is sent; | 10 | /˘········ |
| Freedom is dearer still than love may be; | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| And I, my dearest, am at last content, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Content to love thee and to leave thee free. | 10 | /˘········ |
| Love me then not, for pity nor for prayer, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But as the sunshine loveth and the rain, | 10 | ···/······ |
| Which speed them gladly through the upper air | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Because the gracious pathway is made plain. | 10 | ···/˘/···· |
| And as we watch the slant lines, gold and dun, | 10 | ·········· |
| Bridge heaven’s distance all intent to bless, | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| And cavil not if we or other one | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Shall have the larger portion or the less, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| So with unvexèd eye I mark and see | 9 | ········· |
| Where blessed and blessing your sweet days are spent; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And though another win more love from thee, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Having my share I am therewith content. | 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.