At the Door
I thought myself indeed secure,So fast the door, so firm the lock;But, lo! he toddling comes to lureMy parent ear with timorous knock.
My heart were stone could it withstandThe sweetness of my baby's plea,--That timorous, baby knocking and"Please let me in,--it's only me."
I threw aside the unfinished book,Regardless of its tempting charms,And opening wide the door, I tookMy laughing darling in my arms.
Who knows but in Eternity,I, like a truant child, shall waitThe glories of a life to be,Beyond the Heavenly Father's gate?
And will that Heavenly Father heedThe truant's supplicating cry,As at the outer door I plead,"'T is I, O Father! only I"?
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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
At the Door is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Little Book of Western Verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #9606; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Eugene Field, At the Door, in A Little Book of Western Verse (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9606, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-western-verse/at-the-door.html, id L24665.
Form and metre
At the Door is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 4 of its 5 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 ABAB secureA · lockB · lureA · knockB
- 2 ABAB withstandA · pleaB · andA · meB
- 3 ABAB bookA · charmsB · tookA · armsB
- 4 -A-A eternity · waitA · be · gateA
- 5 ABAB heedA · cryB · pleadA · iB
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 thought myself indeed secure, | 8 | ···/˘/˘/ |
| So fast the door, so firm the lock; | 8 | ········ |
| But, lo! he toddling comes to lure | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| My parent ear with timorous knock. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| My heart were stone could it withstand | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The sweetness of my baby's plea,-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That timorous, baby knocking and | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| "Please let me in,--it's only me." | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I threw aside the unfinished book, | 9 | ··˘/·˘/˘· |
| Regardless of its tempting charms, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| And opening wide the door, I took | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| My laughing darling in my arms. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Who knows but in Eternity, | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| I, like a truant child, shall wait | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The glories of a life to be, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Beyond the Heavenly Father's gate? | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And will that Heavenly Father heed | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The truant's supplicating cry, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| As at the outer door I plead, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "'T is I, O Father! only I"? | 9 | ····/˘/˘· |
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.