The Star
THEY followed the Star the whole night through;As it moved with the midnight they moved too;And cared not whither it led, nor knew,Till Christmas Day in the morning.
And just at the dawn in the twilight shadeThey came to the stable, and, unafraid,Saw the Blessed Babe in the manger laidOn Christmas Day in the morning.
We have followed the Star a whole long year,And watched its beckon, now faint, now clear,And it now stands still as we draw anearTo Christmas Day in the morning.
And just as the wise men did of old,In the hush of the winter dawning cold,We come to the stable, and we beholdThe Child on the Christmas morning.
And just as the wise men deemed it meetTo offer him gold and perfumes sweet,We would lay our gifts at his holy feet,—Our gifts on the Christmas morning.
O Babe, once laid in the ox’s bed,With never a pillow for thy head,Now throned in the highest heavens instead,O Lord of the Christmas morning!—
Because we have known and have loved thy star,And have followed it long and followed it far,From the land where the shadows and darkness are,To find thee on Christmas morning,—
Accept the gifts that we dare to bring,Though worthless and poor the offering,And help our souls to rise and to singIn the joy of thy Christmas morning.
Words in this poem
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
- babe n.
- An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
- manger n.
- A trough or open box in which fodder is placed for horses or cattle to eat. [F. mangeoire, fr. manger to eat, fr. L. manducare, fr. mandere to chew. Cf. Mandible, Manducate.]
- beckon v. t.
- To make a significant sign to; hence, to summon, as by a motion of the hand.
- anear v. t.
- To near; to approach.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Star 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, The Star, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/the-star.html, id L23496.
Form and metre
The Star is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 56% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 73%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AAA- throughA · tooA · knewA · morning
- 2 AAA- shadeA · unafraidA · laidA · morning
- 3 AAA- yearA · clearA · anearA · morning
- 4 AAA- oldA · coldA · beholdA · morning
- 5 AAA- meetA · sweetA · feetA · morning
- 6 AAA- bedA · headA · insteadA · morning
- 7 AAA- starA · farA · areA · morning
- 8 AAAA bringA · offeringA · singA · morningA
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| THEY followed the Star the whole night through; | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| As it moved with the midnight they moved too; | 10 | ·····/···· |
| And cared not whither it led, nor knew, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Till Christmas Day in the morning. | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| And just at the dawn in the twilight shade | 10 | ·······/·· |
| They came to the stable, and, unafraid, | 10 | ····/˘··˘/ |
| Saw the Blessed Babe in the manger laid | 9 | ······/˘· |
| On Christmas Day in the morning. | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| We have followed the Star a whole long year, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| And watched its beckon, now faint, now clear, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| And it now stands still as we draw anear | 10 | ········˘/ |
| To Christmas Day in the morning. | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| And just as the wise men did of old, | 9 | ········· |
| In the hush of the winter dawning cold, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| We come to the stable, and we behold | 10 | ····/˘··˘/ |
| The Child on the Christmas morning. | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| And just as the wise men deemed it meet | 9 | ········· |
| To offer him gold and perfumes sweet, | 9 | ·/˘···˘/· |
| We would lay our gifts at his holy feet,— | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Our gifts on the Christmas morning. | 9 | /˘···/˘/˘ |
| O Babe, once laid in the ox’s bed, | 8 | ········ |
| With never a pillow for thy head, | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| Now throned in the highest heavens instead, | 10 | ····/˘/˘˘/ |
| O Lord of the Christmas morning!— | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Because we have known and have loved thy star, | 10 | ·········· |
| And have followed it long and followed it far, | 11 | ··/˘···/˘·· |
| From the land where the shadows and darkness are, | 11 | ·····/··/˘· |
| To find thee on Christmas morning,— | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Accept the gifts that we dare to bring, | 9 | ˘/······· |
| Though worthless and poor the offering, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘˘ |
| And help our souls to rise and to sing | 9 | ··/······ |
| In the joy of thy Christmas morning. | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
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.