A Meditation of St. Eligius
Queen Mary one day Jesus sentTo fetch some water, legends tell;The little boy, obedient,Drew a full pitcher from the well;
But as he raised it to his head,The water lipping with the rim,The handle broke, and all was shedUpon the stones about the brim.
His cloak upon the ground he laidAnd in it gathered up the pool;Obedient there the water staid,And home he bore it plentiful.
Eligius said, "Tis fabled ill:The hands that all the world control,Had here been room for miracle,Had made his mother's pitcher whole!
"Still, some few drops for thirsty needA poor invention even, when toldIn love of thee the Truth indeed,Like broken pitcher yet may hold:
"Thy truth, alas, Lord, once I spilt:I thought to bear the pitcher high;Upon the shining stones of guiltI slipped, and there the potsherds lie!
"Master, I cried, no man will drink,No human thirst will e'er be stilledThrough me, who sit upon the brink,My pitcher broke, thy water spilled!
"What will they do I waiting left?They looked to me to bring thy law!The well is deep, and, sin-bereft,I nothing have wherewith to draw!"
"But as I sat in evil plight,With dry parched heart and sickened brain,Uprose in me the water bright,Thou gavest me thyself again!"
Words in this poem
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- brink n.
- The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge, as of a river or pit; a verge; a border; as, the brink of a chasm. Also Fig. [Dan. brink edge, verge; akin to Sw. brink declivity, hill, Icel. brekka; cf. LG. brink a grassy hill, W. bryn hill, bryncyn hillock.]
- wherewith adv.
- With which; -- used relatively.
- plight v. t.
- To weave; to braid; to fold; to plait. [OE. pliten; probably through Old French, fr. LL. plectare, L. plectere. See Plait, Ply.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Meditation of St. Eligius is in the public domain. This text is taken from The poetical works of George MacDonald in two volumes — Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #9984; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: George MacDonald, A Meditation of St. Eligius, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/a-meditation-of-st-eligius.html, id L22278.
Form and metre
A Meditation of St. Eligius is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 sentA · tellB · obedientA · wellB
- 2 ABAB headA · rimB · shedA · brimB
- 3 ABAB laidA · poolB · staidA · plentifulB
- 4 ABAB illA · controlB · miracleA · wholeB
- 5 ABAB needA · toldB · indeedA · holdB
- 6 ABAB spiltA · highB · guiltA · lieB
- 7 ABAB drinkA · stilledB · brinkA · spilledB
- 8 ABAB leftA · lawB · bereftA · drawB
- 9 ABAB plightA · brainB · brightA · againB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Queen Mary one day Jesus sent | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To fetch some water, legends tell; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The little boy, obedient, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Drew a full pitcher from the well; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But as he raised it to his head, | 8 | ········ |
| The water lipping with the rim, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The handle broke, and all was shed | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Upon the stones about the brim. | 8 | ········ |
| His cloak upon the ground he laid | 8 | ········ |
| And in it gathered up the pool; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Obedient there the water staid, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| And home he bore it plentiful. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Eligius said, "Tis fabled ill: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The hands that all the world control, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Had here been room for miracle, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Had made his mother's pitcher whole! | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| "Still, some few drops for thirsty need | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A poor invention even, when told | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| In love of thee the Truth indeed, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Like broken pitcher yet may hold: | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| "Thy truth, alas, Lord, once I spilt: | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| I thought to bear the pitcher high; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Upon the shining stones of guilt | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I slipped, and there the potsherds lie! | 8 | ········ |
| "Master, I cried, no man will drink, | 8 | /˘······ |
| No human thirst will e'er be stilled | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Through me, who sit upon the brink, | 8 | ········ |
| My pitcher broke, thy water spilled! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| "What will they do I waiting left? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| They looked to me to bring thy law! | 8 | ········ |
| The well is deep, and, sin-bereft, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| I nothing have wherewith to draw!" | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| "But as I sat in evil plight, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With dry parched heart and sickened brain, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Uprose in me the water bright, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thou gavest me thyself again!" | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
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.