The Vision and the Summons
THE trance of golden afternoonLay on the Judæan skies;The trance of vision, like a swoon,Sealed the Apostle’s eyes.Upon the roof he sat and sawAngelic hands let down and drawAgain the mighty vessel fullOf beasts and birds innumerable.
Three times the heavenly vision fell,Three times the Lord’s voice spoke;When Peter, loath to break the spell,Roused from his trance, and woke,To hear a common sound and rude,Which jarred and shook his solitude,—A knocking at the doorway near,Where stood the two from Cæsarea.
And should he heed, or should he stay?Scarce had the vision fled,—Perchance it might return that day,Perchance more words be saidBy the Lord’s voice?—he rises slow;Again the knocking; he must go;Nor guessed, while going down the stair,That ’twas the Lord who called him there.
Had he sat still upon the roof,Wooing the vision long,The Gentile world had missed the truth,And Heaven one “sweet new song.”Souls might have perished in blind pain,And the Lord Christ have died in vainFor them. He knew not what it meant,But Peter rose and Peter went.
Oh, souls which sit in upper air,Longing for heavenly sight,Glimpses of truth all fleeting-fair,Set in unearthly light,—Is there no knocking heard below,For which you should arise and go,Leaving the vision, and againBearing its message unto men?
Sordid the world were vision not,But fruitless were your stay;So, having seen the sight, and gotThe message, haste away.Though pure and bright thy higher air,And hot the street and dull the stair,Still get thee down, for who shall knowBut ’tis the Lord who knocks below?
Words in this poem
- afternoon n.
- The part of the day which follows noon, between noon and evening.
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- loath a.
- Hateful; odious; disliked. [OE. looth, loth, AS. la hostile, odious; akin to OS. l, G. leid, Icel. lei, Sw. led, G. leiden to suffer, OHG. lidan to suffer, go, cf. AS. li to go, Goth. leip]
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- doorway n.
- The passage of a door; entrance way into a house or a room.
- 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]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- unearthly a.
- Not terrestrial; supernatural; preternatural; hence, weird; appalling; terrific; as, an unearthly sight or sound.
- 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.]
- fruitless a.
- Lacking, or not bearing, fruit; barren; destitute of offspring; as, a fruitless tree or shrub; a fruitless marriage.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Vision and the Summons 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 Vision and the Summons, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/the-vision-and-the-summons.html, id L23426.
Form and metre
The Vision and the Summons is 48 lines in 6 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCCDD, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See 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 ABABCCDD afternoonA · skiesB · swoonA · eyesB · sawC · drawC · fullD · innumerableD
- 2 ABABCC-- fellA · spokeB · spellA · wokeB · rudeC · solitudeC · near · cæsarea
- 3 ABABCCDD stayA · fledB · dayA · saidB · slowC · goC · stairD · thereD
- 4 -A-ABBCC roof · longA · truth · songA · painB · vainB · meantC · wentC
- 5 ABABCCDD airA · sightB · fairA · lightB · belowC · goC · againD · menD
- 6 ABABCCDD notA · stayB · gotA · awayB · airC · stairC · knowD · belowD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| THE trance of golden afternoon | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Lay on the Judæan skies; | 6 | ······ |
| The trance of vision, like a swoon, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Sealed the Apostle’s eyes. | 7 | ·˘·˘/˘· |
| Upon the roof he sat and saw | 8 | ········ |
| Angelic hands let down and draw | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Again the mighty vessel full | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Of beasts and birds innumerable. | 9 | ····˘/˘˘˘ |
| Three times the heavenly vision fell, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Three times the Lord’s voice spoke; | 6 | ······ |
| When Peter, loath to break the spell, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Roused from his trance, and woke, | 7 | ·˘····· |
| To hear a common sound and rude, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Which jarred and shook his solitude,— | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A knocking at the doorway near, | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| Where stood the two from Cæsarea. | 8 | ········ |
| And should he heed, or should he stay? | 8 | ········ |
| Scarce had the vision fled,— | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Perchance it might return that day, | 8 | ˘/··˘/·· |
| Perchance more words be said | 6 | ˘/···· |
| By the Lord’s voice?—he rises slow; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Again the knocking; he must go; | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Nor guessed, while going down the stair, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That ’twas the Lord who called him there. | 8 | ········ |
| Had he sat still upon the roof, | 8 | ········ |
| Wooing the vision long, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| The Gentile world had missed the truth, | 8 | ·/······ |
| And Heaven one “sweet new song.” | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Souls might have perished in blind pain, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And the Lord Christ have died in vain | 8 | ········ |
| For them. He knew not what it meant, | 8 | ········ |
| But Peter rose and Peter went. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Oh, souls which sit in upper air, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Longing for heavenly sight, | 7 | /˘·/˘˘· |
| Glimpses of truth all fleeting-fair, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Set in unearthly light,— | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Is there no knocking heard below, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For which you should arise and go, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Leaving the vision, and again | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| Bearing its message unto men? | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Sordid the world were vision not, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| But fruitless were your stay; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| So, having seen the sight, and got | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The message, haste away. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Though pure and bright thy higher air, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And hot the street and dull the stair, | 8 | ········ |
| Still get thee down, for who shall know | 8 | ········ |
| But ’tis the Lord who knocks below? | 8 | ········ |
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