A Prayer
I meant to have but modest needs,Such as content, and heaven;Within my income these could lie,And life and I keep even.
But since the last included both,It would suffice my prayerBut just for one to stipulate,And grace would grant the pair.
And so, upon this wise I prayed, --Great Spirit, give to meA heaven not so large as yours,But large enough for me.
A smile suffused Jehovah's face;The cherubim withdrew;Grave saints stole out to look at me,And showed their dimples, too.
I left the place with all my might, --My prayer away I threw;The quiet ages picked it up,And Judgment twinkled, too,
That one so honest be extantAs take the tale for trueThat "Whatsoever you shall ask,Itself be given you."
But I, grown shrewder, scan the skiesWith a suspicious air, --As children, swindled for the first,All swindlers be, infer.
Words in this poem
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- income n.
- A coming in; entrance; admittance; ingress; infusion.
- suffice v. i.
- To be enough, or sufficient; to meet the need (of anything); to be equal to the end proposed; to be adequate. [OE. suffisen, OF. soufire, F. suffire (cf. suffisant, p.pr.), L. sufficere to put under, to substitute, to avail for, to suffice; sub under + facere to make. Se]
- stipulate a.
- Furnished with stipules; as, a stipulate leaf.
- cherubim n.
- The Hebrew plural of Cherub.. Cf. Seraphim.
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- extant a.
- Standing out or above any surface; protruded. [L. extans, -antis, or exstans, -antis, p.pr. of extare, exstare, to stand out or forth; ex out + stare to stand: cf. F. extant. See Stand.]
- 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,]
- scan v. t.
- To mount by steps; to go through with step by step. [L. scandere, scansum, to climb, to scan, akin to Skr. skand to spring, leap: cf. F. scander. Cf. Ascend, Descend, Scale a ladder.]
- infer v. t.
- To bring on; to induce; to occasion. Harvey. [L. inferre to bring into, bring forward, occasion, infer; pref. in- in + ferre to carry, bring: cf. F. inférer. See 1 st Bear.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Prayer is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete, Project Gutenberg ebook #12242; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Emily Dickinson, A Prayer, in Poems (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/a-prayer.html, id L03645.
Form and metre
A Prayer is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 18% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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.
- 2 -A-A both · prayerA · stipulate · pairA
- 3 -A-A prayed · meA · yours · meA
- 4 -A-A face · withdrewA · me · tooA
- 5 -A-A might · threwA · up · tooA
- 6 -A-A extant · trueA · ask · youA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I meant to have but modest needs, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Such as content, and heaven; | 7 | ··/˘·/˘ |
| Within my income these could lie, | 8 | ···/···· |
| And life and I keep even. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| But since the last included both, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| It would suffice my prayer | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| But just for one to stipulate, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And grace would grant the pair. | 6 | ······ |
| And so, upon this wise I prayed, -- | 8 | ········ |
| Great Spirit, give to me | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A heaven not so large as yours, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But large enough for me. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| A smile suffused Jehovah's face; | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| The cherubim withdrew; | 6 | ·/˘˘˘/ |
| Grave saints stole out to look at me, | 8 | ········ |
| And showed their dimples, too. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I left the place with all my might, -- | 8 | ········ |
| My prayer away I threw; | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| The quiet ages picked it up, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And Judgment twinkled, too, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| That one so honest be extant | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| As take the tale for true | 6 | ······ |
| That "Whatsoever you shall ask, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Itself be given you." | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| But I, grown shrewder, scan the skies | 8 | ········ |
| With a suspicious air, -- | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| As children, swindled for the first, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| All swindlers be, infer. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
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.