A Christening
This day we are met to set a nameOn thy mysterious dust and flame,That in the years to follow, whenThy feet shall walk the ways of men,Thou mayst according to his planBe known thereby to man.
O being undiscoverable!Thy name thyself will never spell.Whate’er thou art, whate’er wilt be,Man’s tongue will never utter thee;Towering upon thy inmost throneThou shalt of none be known.
We watch in wonder how thy browGrows strange and silent in sleep, and howEven more silent and more strangeThy waking is that brings no changeWhen thy dim dreams of slumber pressTo dimmer dreamlessness.
But looking with a love that seemsTo pierce thy undiscovered dreams,Within thy small unfolded beingSome dream of our own making seeing,“All that she feels and dreams,” we say,“We too will know one day.”
Ah, even when human speech has comeTo make thy mouth no longer dumb,When quickened thought and sympathyLike angels look from either eye,Thyself will still be hidden as deepAs now, awake, asleep.
We must our knowledge of thee stillBy nothing save by love fulfil,And with the dreamings of the heartStill guess at the dream of what thou artWhich only of thee and God is known,Child whom this day names Joan.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- towering a.
- Very high; elevated; rising aloft; as, a towering height.
- inmost a.
- Deepest within; farthest from the surface or external part; innermost. [OE. innemest, AS. innemest, a double superlative form fr. inne within, fr. in in. The modern form is due to confusion with most. See In, and cf. Aftermost, Fore]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Christening is in the public domain. This text is taken from Sonnets and Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #56244; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Eleanor Farjeon, A Christening, in Sonnets and Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56244, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/farjeon-sonnets-poems/a-christening.html, id L21974.
Form and metre
A Christening is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABBCC, complete in 3 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 AABBCC nameA · flameA · whenB · menB · planC · manC
- 2 --AABB undiscoverable · spell · beA · theeA · throneB · knownB
- 3 AABBCC browA · howA · strangeB · changeB · pressC · dreamlessnessC
- 4 AABBCC seemsA · dreamsA · beingB · seeingB · sayC · dayC
- 5 AA--BB comeA · dumbA · sympathy · eye · deepB · asleepB
- 6 --AABB still · fulfil · heartA · artA · knownB · joanB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| This day we are met to set a name | 9 | ········· |
| On thy mysterious dust and flame, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| That in the years to follow, when | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thy feet shall walk the ways of men, | 8 | ········ |
| Thou mayst according to his plan | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Be known thereby to man. | 6 | ······ |
| O being undiscoverable! | 8 | ·/······ |
| Thy name thyself will never spell. | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Whate’er thou art, whate’er wilt be, | 10 | ˘˘/··˘˘/·· |
| Man’s tongue will never utter thee; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Towering upon thy inmost throne | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Thou shalt of none be known. | 6 | ······ |
| We watch in wonder how thy brow | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Grows strange and silent in sleep, and how | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Even more silent and more strange | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Thy waking is that brings no change | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| When thy dim dreams of slumber press | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To dimmer dreamlessness. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But looking with a love that seems | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To pierce thy undiscovered dreams, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Within thy small unfolded being | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| Some dream of our own making seeing, | 9 | ···/·/˘/˘ |
| “All that she feels and dreams,” we say, | 8 | ········ |
| “We too will know one day.” | 6 | ······ |
| Ah, even when human speech has come | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| To make thy mouth no longer dumb, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When quickened thought and sympathy | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Like angels look from either eye, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Thyself will still be hidden as deep | 9 | ˘/···/˘·· |
| As now, awake, asleep. | 6 | ··˘/˘/ |
| We must our knowledge of thee still | 8 | ··//˘··· |
| By nothing save by love fulfil, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And with the dreamings of the heart | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Still guess at the dream of what thou art | 9 | ········· |
| Which only of thee and God is known, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Child whom this day names Joan. | 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.