Laurel · George MacDonald · A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems

Brother Artist!

George MacDonald (1824–1905) · 1893

trochaic tetrameter · ABBA · 52 lines · from A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems

Brother artist, help me; come!Artists are a maimed band:I have words but not a hand;Thou hast hands though thou art dumb.

Had I thine, when words did fail--Vassal-words their hasting chief,On the white awaiting leafShapes of power should tell the tale.

Had I hers of music-might,I would shake the air with stormTill the red clouds trailed enormBoreal dances through the night.

Had I his whose foresight rarePiles the stones with lordliest art,From the quarry of my heartLove should climb a heavenly stair!

Had I his whose wooing slowWins the marble's hidden child,Out in passion undefiledStood my Psyche, white as snow!

Maimed, a little help I pray;Words suffice not for my end;Let thy hand obey thy friend,Say for me what I would say.

Draw me, on an arid plainWith hoar-headed mountains nigh,Under a clear morning skyTelling of a night of rain,

Huge and half-shaped, like a blockChosen for sarcophagusBy a Pharaoh glorious,One rude solitary rock.

Cleave it down along the ridgeWith a fissure yawning deepTo the heart of the hard heap,Like the rent of riving wedge.

Through the cleft let hands appear,Upward pointed with pressed palmsAs if raised in silent psalmsFor salvation come anear.

Turn thee now--'tis almost done!--To the near horizon's verge:Make the smallest arc emergeOf the forehead of the sun.

One thing more--I ask too much!--From a brow which hope makes braveSweep the shadow of the graveWith a single golden touch.

Thanks, dear painter; that is all.If thy picture one day shouldNeed some words to make it good,I am ready to thy call.

Words in this poem

artist n.: One who practices some mechanic art or craft; an artisan. [F. artiste, LL. artista, fr. L. ars. See Art, n., and cf. Artiste.]
hast: , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
boreal a.: Northern; pertaining to the north, or to the north wind; as, a boreal bird; a boreal blast. [L. borealis: cf. F. boréal. See Boreas.]
psyche n.: A lovely maiden, daughter of a king and mistress of Eros, or Cupid. She is regarded as the personification of the soul.
suffice v. i.: To be enough, or sufficient; to meet the need (of anything); to be equal to the end proposed; to be adequate. [OE. suffisen, OF. soufire, F. suffire (cf. suffisant, p.pr.), L. sufficere to put under, to substitute, to avail for, to suffice; sub under + facere to make. Se]
hoar v. t.: To become moldy or musty. [AS. harian to grow gray.]
pharaoh n.: A title by which the sovereigns of ancient Egypt were designated. [Heb. paroh; of Egyptian origin: cf. L. pharao, Gr. Faro.]
glorious a.: Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
anear v. t.: To near; to approach.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Brother Artist! 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, Brother Artist!, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/brother-artist.html, id L22276.

Form and metre

Brother Artist! is 52 lines in 13 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBA, complete in 11 of its 13 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).

See other poems in trochaic 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 ABBA come^A · band^B · hand^B · dumb^A
2 ABBA fail^A · chief^B · leaf^B · tale^A
3 ABBA might^A · storm^B · enorm^B · night^A
4 ABBA rare^A · art^B · heart^B · stair^A
5 ABBA slow^A · child^B · undefiled^B · snow^A
6 ABBA pray^A · end^B · friend^B · say^A
7 ABBA plain^A · nigh^B · sky^B · rain^A
8 A--A block^A · sarcophagus · glorious · rock^A
9 -AA- ridge · deep^A · heap^A · wedge
10 ABBA appear^A · palms^B · psalms^B · anear^A
11 ABBA done^A · verge^B · emerge^B · sun^A
12 ABBA much^A · brave^B · grave^B · touch^A
13 ABBA all^A · should^B · good^B · call^A

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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
Brother artist, help me; come!	7	/˘/˘···
Artists are a maimed band:	7	/˘···˘·
I have words but not a hand;	7	·······
Thou hast hands though thou art dumb.	7	·······
Had I thine, when words did fail--	7	·······
Vassal-words their hasting chief,	7	/˘··/˘·
On the white awaiting leaf	7	···˘/˘·
Shapes of power should tell the tale.	7	··/····
Had I hers of music-might,	7	····/˘·
I would shake the air with storm	7	·······
Till the red clouds trailed enorm	7	·····˘/
Boreal dances through the night.	8	/˘˘/˘···
Had I his whose foresight rare	7	····/··
Piles the stones with lordliest art,	7	·······
From the quarry of my heart	7	··/˘···
Love should climb a heavenly stair!	7	····/˘·
Had I his whose wooing slow	7	····/˘·
Wins the marble's hidden child,	7	··/˘/˘·
Out in passion undefiled	7	··/˘···
Stood my Psyche, white as snow!	7	··/˘···
Maimed, a little help I pray;	7	··/˘···
Words suffice not for my end;	7	·˘/····
Let thy hand obey thy friend,	7	···˘/··
Say for me what I would say.	7	·······
Draw me, on an arid plain	7	····/˘·
With hoar-headed mountains nigh,	7	··/˘/˘·
Under a clear morning sky	7	····/˘·
Telling of a night of rain,	7	/˘·····
Huge and half-shaped, like a block	7	·······
Chosen for sarcophagus	7	/˘·˘/˘˘
By a Pharaoh glorious,	7	··/˘/˘˘
One rude solitary rock.	7	··/˘·˘·
Cleave it down along the ridge	7	···˘/··
With a fissure yawning deep	7	··/˘/˘·
To the heart of the hard heap,	7	·······
Like the rent of riving wedge.	7	·······
Through the cleft let hands appear,	7	·····˘/
Upward pointed with pressed palms	7	/˘/˘···
As if raised in silent psalms	7	····/˘·
For salvation come anear.	7	·˘/˘·˘/
Turn thee now--'tis almost done!--	7	····/··
To the near horizon's verge:	7	···˘/˘·
Make the smallest arc emerge	7	··/˘·˘/
Of the forehead of the sun.	7	··/˘···
One thing more--I ask too much!--	7	·······
From a brow which hope makes brave	7	·······
Sweep the shadow of the grave	7	··/····
With a single golden touch.	7	··/˘/˘·
Thanks, dear painter; that is all.	7	··/˘···
If thy picture one day should	7	··/˘···
Need some words to make it good,	7	·······
I am ready to thy call.	7	··/˘···

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.

More by George MacDonald

A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems