The Guest
Sometimes I feel that death is very near,And, with half-lifted hand,Looks in my eyes, and tells me not to fear,But walk his friendly land,Comrade with him, and wiseAs peace is wise.
Then, greatly though my heart with pity movesFor dear imperilled loves,I somehow knowThat death is friendly so,A comfortable spirit; one who takesLong thought for all our sakes.
I wonder; will he come that friendly way,That guest, or roughly in the appointed day?And will, when the last drops of life are spilt,My soul be torn from me,Or, like a ship truly and trimly built,Slip quietly to sea?
Words in this poem
- somehow adv.
- In one way or another; in some way not yet known or designated; by some means; as, the thing must be done somehow; he lives somehow.
- trimly adv.
- In a trim manner; nicely.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Guest is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, 1908-1919, Project Gutenberg ebook #51575; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Drinkwater, The Guest, in Poems, 1908-1919 (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51575, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drinkwater-poems/the-guest.html, id L23123.
Form and metre
The Guest is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABABCC nearA · handB · fearA · landB · wiseC · wiseC
- 2 --AABB moves · loves · knowA · soA · takesB · sakesB
- 3 AABCBC wayA · dayA · spiltB · meC · builtB · seaC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sometimes I feel that death is very near, | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| And, with half-lifted hand, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Looks in my eyes, and tells me not to fear, | 10 | ·········· |
| But walk his friendly land, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Comrade with him, and wise | 6 | /····· |
| As peace is wise. | 4 | ···· |
| Then, greatly though my heart with pity moves | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| For dear imperilled loves, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| I somehow know | 4 | ·/·· |
| That death is friendly so, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A comfortable spirit; one who takes | 8 | ·/˘˘/··· |
| Long thought for all our sakes. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| I wonder; will he come that friendly way, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| That guest, or roughly in the appointed day? | 11 | ···/˘··˘/˘· |
| And will, when the last drops of life are spilt, | 10 | ·········· |
| My soul be torn from me, | 6 | ······ |
| Or, like a ship truly and trimly built, | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| Slip quietly to sea? | 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.