Come to Me
Come to me, come to me, O my God;Come to me everywhere!Let the trees mean thee, and the grassy sod,And the water and the air!
For thou art so far that I often doubt,As on every side I stare,Searching within, and looking without,If thou canst be anywhere.
How did men find thee in days of old?How did they grow so sure?They fought in thy name, they were glad and bold,They suffered, and kept themselves pure!
But now they say--neither above the sphereNor down in the heart of man,But solely in fancy, ambition, and fearThe thought of thee began.
If only that perfect tale were trueWhich ages have not made old,Which of endless many makes one anew,And simplicity manifold!
But he taught that they who did his wordThe truth of it sure would know:I will try to do it: if he be lordAgain the old faith will glow;
Again the old spirit-wind will blowThat he promised to their prayer;And obeying the Son, I too shall knowHis father everywhere!
Words in this poem
- 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
Come to Me 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, Come to Me, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/come-to-me.html, id L22417.
Form and metre
Come to Me is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 6 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%).
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 godA · everywhereB · sodA · airB
- 2 ABAB doubtA · stareB · withoutA · anywhereB
- 3 ABAB oldA · sureB · boldA · pureB
- 4 ABAB sphereA · manB · fearA · beganB
- 5 ABAB trueA · oldB · anewA · manifoldB
- 6 -A-A word · knowA · lord · glowA
- 7 ABAB blowA · prayerB · knowA · everywhereB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Come to me, come to me, O my God; | 9 | ········· |
| Come to me everywhere! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Let the trees mean thee, and the grassy sod, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And the water and the air! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| For thou art so far that I often doubt, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| As on every side I stare, | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Searching within, and looking without, | 9 | /˘···/˘·· |
| If thou canst be anywhere. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| How did men find thee in days of old? | 9 | ········· |
| How did they grow so sure? | 6 | ······ |
| They fought in thy name, they were glad and bold, | 10 | ·········· |
| They suffered, and kept themselves pure! | 8 | ·/˘··˘/· |
| But now they say--neither above the sphere | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Nor down in the heart of man, | 7 | ······· |
| But solely in fancy, ambition, and fear | 11 | ·/˘·/˘˘/˘·· |
| The thought of thee began. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| If only that perfect tale were true | 9 | ·/˘·˘/··· |
| Which ages have not made old, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Which of endless many makes one anew, | 10 | ··/˘/˘··˘/ |
| And simplicity manifold! | 8 | ·˘/˘˘/˘· |
| But he taught that they who did his word | 9 | ········· |
| The truth of it sure would know: | 7 | ······· |
| I will try to do it: if he be lord | 10 | ·········· |
| Again the old faith will glow; | 7 | ˘/····· |
| Again the old spirit-wind will blow | 9 | ˘/··/˘··· |
| That he promised to their prayer; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And obeying the Son, I too shall know | 10 | ·˘/˘······ |
| His father everywhere! | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
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.