At Bethany
MARTHA busy about household affairs.MARY sitting at the feet of CHRISTUS.
She sitteth idly at the Master's feet.And troubles not herself with household cares.'T is the old story. When a guest arrivesShe gives up all to be with him; while IMust be the drudge, make ready the guest-chamber,Prepare the food, set everything in order,And see that naught is wanting in the house.She shows her love by words, and I by works.
O Master! when thou comest, it is alwaysA Sabbath in the house. I cannot work;I must sit at thy feet; must see thee, hear thee!I have a feeble, wayward, doubting heart,Incapable of endurance or great thoughts,Striving for something that it cannot reach,Baffled and disappointed, wounded, hungry;And only when I hear thee am I happy,And only when I see thee am at peace!Stronger than I, and wiser, and far betterIn every manner, is my sister Martha.Thou seest how well she orders everythingTo make thee welcome; how she comes and goes,Careful and cumbered ever with much serving,While I but welcome thee with foolish words!Whene'er thou speakest to me, I am happy;When thou art silent, I am satisfied.Thy presence is enough. I ask no more.Only to be with thee, only to see thee,Sufficeth me. My heart is then at rest.I wonder I am worthy of so much.
Lord, dost thou care not that my sister MaryHath left me thus to wait on thee alone?I pray thee, bid her help me.
Martha, Martha,Careful and troubled about many thingsArt thou, and yet one thing alone is needful!Thy sister Mary hath chosen that good part,Which never shall be taken away from her!
Words in this poem
- wayward a.
- Taking one's own way; disobedient; froward; perverse; willful. [OE. weiward, for aweiward, i. e., turned away. See Away, and -ward.]
- disappointed a.
- Defeated of expectation or hope; balked; as, a disappointed person or hope.
- needful a.
- Full of need; in need or want; needy; distressing.
- 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 Bethany 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, At Bethany, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/at-bethany.html, id L17878.
Form and metre
At Bethany is 39 lines in 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 11 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 18% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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.
- 3 --A----B---C-C-B--A-- always · work · theeA · heart · thoughts · reach · hungry · happyB · peace · better · martha · everythingC · goes · servingC · words · happyB · satisfied · more · theeA · rest · much
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| MARTHA busy about household affairs. | 10 | /˘/˘··/·˘/ |
| MARY sitting at the feet of CHRISTUS. | 10 | /˘/˘······ |
| She sitteth idly at the Master's feet. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| And troubles not herself with household cares. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/·· |
| 'T is the old story. When a guest arrives | 11 | ····/˘···˘/ |
| She gives up all to be with him; while I | 10 | ·········· |
| Must be the drudge, make ready the guest-chamber, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Prepare the food, set everything in order, | 11 | ˘/···/˘··/˘ |
| And see that naught is wanting in the house. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| She shows her love by words, and I by works. | 10 | ·········· |
| O Master! when thou comest, it is always | 11 | ·/˘······/· |
| A Sabbath in the house. I cannot work; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| I must sit at thy feet; must see thee, hear thee! | 11 | ··········· |
| I have a feeble, wayward, doubting heart, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Incapable of endurance or great thoughts, | 10 | ˘/˘·/˘˘··· |
| Striving for something that it cannot reach, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Baffled and disappointed, wounded, hungry; | 11 | /˘··˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| And only when I hear thee am I happy, | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| And only when I see thee am at peace! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Stronger than I, and wiser, and far better | 11 | /˘···/˘··/˘ |
| In every manner, is my sister Martha. | 11 | ·/˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Thou seest how well she orders everything | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| To make thee welcome; how she comes and goes, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Careful and cumbered ever with much serving, | 11 | /˘·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| While I but welcome thee with foolish words! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Whene'er thou speakest to me, I am happy; | 12 | ····/˘····/˘ |
| When thou art silent, I am satisfied. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Thy presence is enough. I ask no more. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| Only to be with thee, only to see thee, | 11 | /˘····/˘··· |
| Sufficeth me. My heart is then at rest. | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| I wonder I am worthy of so much. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Lord, dost thou care not that my sister Mary | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Hath left me thus to wait on thee alone? | 10 | ········˘/ |
| I pray thee, bid her help me. | 7 | ······· |
| Martha, Martha, | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Careful and troubled about many things | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Art thou, and yet one thing alone is needful! | 11 | ······˘/·/˘ |
| Thy sister Mary hath chosen that good part, | 11 | ·/˘/˘·/˘··· |
| Which never shall be taken away from her! | 10 | ·/··/˘˘/·· |
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.