Coming
When the snow is on the earthBirds and waters cease their mirth;When the sunlight is prevailingEven the night-winds drop their wailing.
On the earth when deep snows lieStill the sun is in the sky,And when most we miss his fireHe is ever drawing nigher.
In the darkest winter dayThou, God, art not far away;When the nights grow colder, drearer,Father, thou art coming nearer!
For thee coming I would watchWith my hand upon the latch--Of the door, I mean, that facesOut upon the eternal spaces!
Words in this poem
- latch v. t.
- To smear; to anoint. [Cf. F. lécher to lick (of German origin). Cf. Lick.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Coming 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, Coming, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/coming.html, id L22305.
Form and metre
Coming is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 AABB earthA · mirthA · prevailingB · wailingB
- 2 AABB lieA · skyA · fireB · nigherB
- 3 AABB dayA · awayA · drearerB · nearerB
- 4 --AA watch · latch · facesA · spacesA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When the snow is on the earth | 7 | ······· |
| Birds and waters cease their mirth; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| When the sunlight is prevailing | 8 | ··/··˘/˘ |
| Even the night-winds drop their wailing. | 8 | /·····/˘ |
| On the earth when deep snows lie | 7 | ······· |
| Still the sun is in the sky, | 7 | ······· |
| And when most we miss his fire | 8 | ······/˘ |
| He is ever drawing nigher. | 7 | ··//˘·· |
| In the darkest winter day | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Thou, God, art not far away; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| When the nights grow colder, drearer, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Father, thou art coming nearer! | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| For thee coming I would watch | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| With my hand upon the latch-- | 7 | ······· |
| Of the door, I mean, that faces | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Out upon the eternal spaces! | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
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.