Thank God for Little Children
I almost think the angels,Who tend life's garden fair,Drop down the sweet wild blossomsThat bloom around us here.
It seems a breath of heavenRound many a cradle lies,And every little babyBrings a message from the skies.
Dear mothers, guard these jewels.As sacred offerings meet,A wealth of household treasuresTo lay at Jesus' feet.
Words in this poem
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Thank God for Little Children is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #679; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Thank God for Little Children, in Poems (1854–1871), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #679, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/harper-poems/thank-god-for-little-children-2.html, id L10586.
Form and metre
Thank God for Little Children is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.9 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% 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.
- 1 -A-A angels · fairA · blossoms · hereA
- 2 -A-A heaven · liesA · baby · skiesA
- 3 -A-A jewels · meetA · treasures · feetA
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 almost think the angels, | 7 | ·/···/˘ |
| Who tend life's garden fair, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Drop down the sweet wild blossoms | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| That bloom around us here. | 6 | ······ |
| It seems a breath of heaven | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Round many a cradle lies, | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| And every little baby | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| Brings a message from the skies. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Dear mothers, guard these jewels. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| As sacred offerings meet, | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘˘· |
| A wealth of household treasures | 7 | ···/·/˘ |
| To lay at Jesus' feet. | 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.