Act IV: Scene V. — The Wilderness. Enter Edith
EDITH.How beautiful are these autumnal woods!The wilderness doth blossom like the rose,And change into a garden of the Lord!How silent everywhere! Alone and lostHere in the forest, there comes over meAn inward awfulness. I recall the wordsOf the Apostle Paul: "In journeyings often,Often in perils in the wilderness,In weariness, in painfulness, in watchings,In hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness;"And I forget my weariness and pain,My watchings, and my hunger and my thirst.The Lord hath said that He will seek his flockIn cloudy and dark days, and they shall dwellSecurely in the wilderness, and sleepSafe in the woods! Whichever way I turn,I come back with my face towards the town.Dimly I see it, and the sea beyond it.O cruel town! I know what waits me there,And yet I must go back; for ever louderI hear the inward calling of the Spirit,And must obey the voice. O woods that wearYour golden crown of martyrdom, blood-stained,From you I learn a lesson of submission,And am obedient even unto death,If God so wills it. [Exit.
JOHN ENDICOTT (within).Edith! Edith! Edith!
It is in vain! I call, she answers not;I follow, but I find no trace of her!Blood! blood! The leaves above me and around meAre red with blood! The pathways of the forest,The clouds that canopy the setting sunAnd even the little river in the meadowsAre stained with it! Where'er I look, I see it!Away, thou horrible vision! Leave me! leave me!Alas! you winding stream, that gropes its wayThrough mist and shadow, doubling on itself,At length will find, by the unerring lawOf nature, what it seeks. O soul of man,Groping through mist and shadow, and recoilingBack on thyself, are, too, thy devious waysSubject to law? and when thou seemest to wanderThe farthest from thy goal, art thou still drawingNearer and nearer to it, till at lengthThou findest, like the river, what thou seekest?
Words in this poem
- awfulness n.
- The quality of striking with awe, or with reverence; dreadfulness; solemnity; as, the awfulness of this sacred place.
- nakedness n.
- The condition of being naked.
- 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,]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- whichever pron.
- Whether one or another; whether one or the other; which; that one (of two or more) which; as, whichever road you take, it will lead you to town.
- dimly adv.
- In a dim or obscure manner; not brightly or clearly; with imperfect sight.
- martyrdom n.
- The condition of a martyr; the death of a martyr; the suffering of death on account of adherence to the Christian faith, or to any cause. [Martyr + -dom.]
- unerring a.
- Committing no mistake; incapable or error or failure certain; sure; unfailing; as, the unerring wisdom of God.
- devious a.
- Out of a straight line; winding; varying from directness; as, a devious path or way. [L. devius; de + via way. See Viaduct.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act IV: Scene V. — The Wilderness. Enter Edith 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, Act IV: Scene V. — The Wilderness. Enter Edith, in Christus: A Mystery (1872), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-christus/act-iv-scene-v-the-wilderness-enter-edith.html, id L19230.
Form and metre
Act IV: Scene V. — The Wilderness. Enter Edith is 47 lines in 3 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 -------AB-BA------CD-CD---- edith · woods · rose · lord · lost · me · words · oftenA · wildernessB · watchings · nakednessB · painA · thirst · flock · dwell · sleep · turn · town · itC · thereD · louder · spiritC · wearD · stained · submission · death · exit
- 3 --A----A---------- not · her · meA · forest · sun · meadows · it · meA · way · itself · law · man · recoiling · ways · wander · drawing · length · seekest
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 |
|---|---|---|
| EDITH. | 2 | /˘ |
| How beautiful are these autumnal woods! | 10 | ·/˘˘··˘/˘· |
| The wilderness doth blossom like the rose, | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘··· |
| And change into a garden of the Lord! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| How silent everywhere! Alone and lost | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Here in the forest, there comes over me | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| An inward awfulness. I recall the words | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Of the Apostle Paul: "In journeyings often, | 11 | ··˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Often in perils in the wilderness, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘˘ |
| In weariness, in painfulness, in watchings, | 11 | ·/˘˘·····/˘ |
| In hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness;" | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘˘ |
| And I forget my weariness and pain, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘˘·· |
| My watchings, and my hunger and my thirst. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| The Lord hath said that He will seek his flock | 10 | ·········· |
| In cloudy and dark days, and they shall dwell | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Securely in the wilderness, and sleep | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘˘·· |
| Safe in the woods! Whichever way I turn, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| I come back with my face towards the town. | 10 | ·········· |
| Dimly I see it, and the sea beyond it. | 11 | /˘········· |
| O cruel town! I know what waits me there, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And yet I must go back; for ever louder | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| I hear the inward calling of the Spirit, | 11 | ···/˘/˘··/˘ |
| And must obey the voice. O woods that wear | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Your golden crown of martyrdom, blood-stained, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| From you I learn a lesson of submission, | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| And am obedient even unto death, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| If God so wills it. [Exit. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| JOHN ENDICOTT (within). | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Edith! Edith! Edith! | 6 | /˘/˘/˘ |
| It is in vain! I call, she answers not; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I follow, but I find no trace of her! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Blood! blood! The leaves above me and around me | 11 | ··········· |
| Are red with blood! The pathways of the forest, | 11 | ·····/···/˘ |
| The clouds that canopy the setting sun | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| And even the little river in the meadows | 11 | ·/·/˘/˘··/· |
| Are stained with it! Where'er I look, I see it! | 12 | ····˘˘/····· |
| Away, thou horrible vision! Leave me! leave me! | 11 | ˘/·/˘/˘···· |
| Alas! you winding stream, that gropes its way | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| Through mist and shadow, doubling on itself, | 10 | ···/·/˘·˘/ |
| At length will find, by the unerring law | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Of nature, what it seeks. O soul of man, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Groping through mist and shadow, and recoiling | 11 | /˘···/··˘/˘ |
| Back on thyself, are, too, thy devious ways | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Subject to law? and when thou seemest to wander | 12 | ˘/·····/˘·/˘ |
| The farthest from thy goal, art thou still drawing | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| Nearer and nearer to it, till at length | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Thou findest, like the river, what thou seekest? | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
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