The Miracle
I have trod this path a hundred timesWith idle footsteps, crooning rhymes.I know each nest and web-worm's tent,The fox-hole which the woodchucks rent,Maple and oak, the old DivanSelf-planted twice, like the banian.I know not why I came againUnless to learn it ten times ten.To read the sense the woods impartYou must bring the throbbing heart.Love is aye the counterforce,--Terror and Hope and wild Remorse,Newest knowledge, fiery thought,Or Duty to grand purpose wrought.Wandering yester morn the brake,I reached this heath beside the lake,And oh, the wonder of the power,The deeper secret of the hour!Nature, the supplement of man,His hidden sense interpret can;--What friend to friend cannot conveyShall the dumb bird instructed say.Passing yonder oak, I heardSharp accents of my woodland bird;I watched the singer with delight,--But mark what changed my joy to fright,--When that bird sang, I gave the theme;That wood-bird sang my last night's dream,A brown wren was the DanielThat pierced my trance its drift to tell,Knew my quarrel, how and why,Published it to lake and sky,Told every word and syllableIn his flippant chirping babble,All my wrath and all my shames,Nay, God is witness, gave the names.
Words in this poem
- divan n.
- A book; esp., a collection of poems written by one author; as, the divan of Hafiz. [Persia] [Per. diwan a book of many leaves, an account book, a collection of books, a senate, council: cf. Ar. daiwan, F. divan.]
- banian n.
- A Hindoo trader, merchant, cashier, or money changer. [Skr. banij merchant. The tree was so named by the English, because used as a market place by the merchants.]
- counterforce n.
- An opposing force.
- yester a.
- Last; last past; next before; of or pertaining to yesterday. [See Yesterday.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- 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,]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- flippant a.
- Of smooth, fluent, and rapid speech; speaking with ease and rapidity; having a voluble tongue; talkative. [Prov. E. flip to move nimbly; cf. W. llipa soft, limber, pliant, or Icel. fleipa to babble, prattle. Cf. Flip, Fillip, Flap, Flipper.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Miracle is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Household Edition, Project Gutenberg ebook #12843; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Miracle, in Poems (1847), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12843, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/emerson-poems/the-miracle.html, id L07567.
Form and metre
The Miracle is 36 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 94% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 22% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 AABB--CCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOONNPP timesA · rhymesA · tentB · rentB · divan · banian · againC · tenC · impartD · heartD · counterforceE · remorseE · thoughtF · wroughtF · brakeG · lakeG · powerH · hourH · manI · canI · conveyJ · sayJ · heardK · birdK · delightL · frightL · themeM · dreamM · danielN · tellN · whyO · skyO · syllableN · babbleN · shamesP · namesP
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I have trod this path a hundred times | 9 | ······/˘· |
| With idle footsteps, crooning rhymes. | 8 | ·/˘/·/˘· |
| I know each nest and web-worm's tent, | 8 | ········ |
| The fox-hole which the woodchucks rent, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Maple and oak, the old Divan | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| Self-planted twice, like the banian. | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| I know not why I came again | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Unless to learn it ten times ten. | 8 | ········ |
| To read the sense the woods impart | 8 | ······˘/ |
| You must bring the throbbing heart. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Love is aye the counterforce,-- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Terror and Hope and wild Remorse, | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| Newest knowledge, fiery thought, | 8 | /˘/˘/˘˘· |
| Or Duty to grand purpose wrought. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Wandering yester morn the brake, | 8 | /˘˘/˘··· |
| I reached this heath beside the lake, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| And oh, the wonder of the power, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| The deeper secret of the hour! | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Nature, the supplement of man, | 8 | /˘·/˘˘·· |
| His hidden sense interpret can;-- | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| What friend to friend cannot convey | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| Shall the dumb bird instructed say. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Passing yonder oak, I heard | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Sharp accents of my woodland bird; | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| I watched the singer with delight,-- | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| But mark what changed my joy to fright,-- | 8 | ········ |
| When that bird sang, I gave the theme; | 8 | ········ |
| That wood-bird sang my last night's dream, | 8 | ········ |
| A brown wren was the Daniel | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| That pierced my trance its drift to tell, | 8 | ········ |
| Knew my quarrel, how and why, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Published it to lake and sky, | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| Told every word and syllable | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘˘ |
| In his flippant chirping babble, | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| All my wrath and all my shames, | 7 | ······· |
| Nay, God is witness, gave the names. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
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.