A Room in the Farm-House
GOTTLIEB.It is decided! For many days,And nights as many, we have hadA nameless terror in our breast,Making us timid, and afraidOf God, and his mysterious ways!We have been sorrowful and sad;Much have we suffered, much have prayedThat He would lead us as is best,And show us what his will required.It is decided; and we giveOur child, O Prince, that you may live!
URSULA.It is of God. He has inspiredThis purpose in her: and through pain,Out of a world of sin and woe,He takes her to Himself again.The mother's heart resists no longer;With the Angel of the Lord in vainIt wrestled, for he was the stronger.
GOTTLIEB.As Abraham offered long agoHis son unto the Lord, and evenThe Everlasting Father in heavenGave his, as a lamb unto the slaughter,So do I offer up my daughter!
ELSIE.My life is little,Only a cup of water,But pure and limpid.Take it, O my Prince!Let it refresh you,Let it restore you.It is given willingly,It is given freely;May God bless the gift!
And the giver!
GOTTLIEB.Amen!
I accept it!
GOTTLIEB.Where are the children?
URSULA.They are already asleep.
GOTTLIEB.What if they were dead?
Words in this poem
- nameless a.
- Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.
- ursula n.
- A beautiful North American butterfly (Basilarchia, or Limenitis, astyanax). Its wings are nearly black with red and blue spots and blotches. Called also red-spotted purple.
- willingly adv.
- In a willing manner; with free will; without reluctance; cheerfully.
- giver n.
- One who gives; a donor; a bestower; a grantor; one who imparts or distributes.
- amen interj.
- An expression used at the end of prayers, and meaning, So be it. At the end of a creed, it is a solemn asseveration of belief. [L. amen, Gr. am certainly, truly.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Room in the Farm-House is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, A Room in the Farm-House, in Christus: A Mystery (1872), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-christus/a-room-in-the-farm-house-2.html, id L19200.
Form and metre
A Room in the Farm-House is 46 lines in 10 stanzas.
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 -ABCDABDCBEE gottlieb · daysA · hadB · breastC · afraidD · waysA · sadB · prayedD · bestC · requiredB · giveE · liveE
- 2 --A-ABAB ursula · inspired · painA · woe · againA · longerB · vainA · strongerB
- 3 ----AA gottlieb · ago · even · heaven · slaughterA · daughterA
- 4 -----AA--- elsie · little · water · limpid · prince · youA · youA · willingly · freely · gift
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| GOTTLIEB. | 2 | /· |
| It is decided! For many days, | 9 | ··˘/˘·/˘· |
| And nights as many, we have had | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A nameless terror in our breast, | 9 | ·/˘/˘·/˘· |
| Making us timid, and afraid | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| Of God, and his mysterious ways! | 9 | ····˘/˘˘· |
| We have been sorrowful and sad; | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Much have we suffered, much have prayed | 10 | ···/˘˘···˘ |
| That He would lead us as is best, | 8 | ········ |
| And show us what his will required. | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| It is decided; and we give | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Our child, O Prince, that you may live! | 9 | /˘······· |
| URSULA. | 3 | /˘˘ |
| It is of God. He has inspired | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| This purpose in her: and through pain, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Out of a world of sin and woe, | 8 | ········ |
| He takes her to Himself again. | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| The mother's heart resists no longer; | 9 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| With the Angel of the Lord in vain | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| It wrestled, for he was the stronger. | 10 | ·/˘˘····/˘ |
| GOTTLIEB. | 2 | /· |
| As Abraham offered long ago | 10 | ·/˘·/˘˘·˘/ |
| His son unto the Lord, and even | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| The Everlasting Father in heaven | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Gave his, as a lamb unto the slaughter, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| So do I offer up my daughter! | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| ELSIE. | 2 | /˘ |
| My life is little, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Only a cup of water, | 7 | /˘···/˘ |
| But pure and limpid. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Take it, O my Prince! | 5 | ····· |
| Let it refresh you, | 5 | ··˘/· |
| Let it restore you. | 5 | ··˘/· |
| It is given willingly, | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| It is given freely; | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| May God bless the gift! | 5 | ····· |
| And the giver! | 4 | ··/˘ |
| GOTTLIEB. | 2 | /· |
| Amen! | 2 | ˘/ |
| I accept it! | 4 | ·˘/· |
| GOTTLIEB. | 2 | /· |
| Where are the children? | 5 | ···/˘ |
| URSULA. | 3 | /˘˘ |
| They are already asleep. | 7 | ··˘/˘˘/ |
| GOTTLIEB. | 2 | /· |
| What if they were dead? | 5 | ····· |
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.