Contrition
Out of the gulf into the glory,Father, my soul cries out to be lifted.Dark is the woof of my dismal story,Thorough thy sun-warp stormily drifted!--Out of the gulf into the glory,Lift me, and save my story.
I have done many things merely shameful;I am a man ashamed, my father!My life is ashamed and broken and blameful--The broken and blameful, oh, cleanse and gather!Heartily shame me, Lord, of the shameful!To my judge I flee with my blameful.
Saviour, at peace in thy perfect purity,Think what it is, not to be pure!Strong in thy love's essential security,Think upon those who are never secure.Full fill my soul with the light of thy purity:Fold me in love's security.
O Father, O Brother, my heart is sore aching!Help it to ache as much as is needful;Is it you cleansing me, mending, remaking,Dear potter-hands, so tender and heedful?Sick of my past, of my own self aching--Hurt on, dear hands, with your making.
Proud of the form thou hadst given thy vessel,Proud of myself, I forgot my donor;Down in the dust I began to nestle,Poured thee no wine, and drank deep of dishonour!Lord, thou hast broken, thou mendest thy vessel!In the dust of thy glory I nestle.
Words in this poem
- dismal a.
- Fatal; ill-omened; unlucky. [Formerly a noun; e. g., "I trow it was in the dismalle." Chaucer. Of uncertain origin; but perh. (as suggested by Skeat) from OF. disme, F. dîme, tithe, the phr]
- stormily adv.
- In a stormy manner.
- blameful a.
- Faulty; meriting blame.
- saviour n.
- One who saves, preserves, or delivers from destruction or danger. [OE. saveour, OF. salveor, F. sauveur, fr. L. salvator to save. See Save, v.]
- aching a.
- That aches; continuously painful. See Ache.
- ache n.
- A name given to several species of plants; as, smallage, wild celery, parsley. Holland. [F. ache, L. apium parsley.]
- needful a.
- Full of need; in need or want; needy; distressing.
- donor n.
- One who gives or bestows; one who confers anything gratuitously; a benefactor. [F. donneur, OF. daneor, fr. donner. See Donee, and cf. Donator.]
- nestle v. i.
- To make and occupy a nest; to nest. [AS. nestlian.]
- drank n.
- Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [Cf. 3d Drake.]
- dishonour n.
- Lack of honor; disgrace; ignominy; shame; reproach. [OE. deshonour, dishonour, OF. deshonor, deshonur, F. déshonneur; pref. des- (L. dis-) + honor, honur, F. honneur, fr. L. honor. See Honor.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Contrition 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, Contrition, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/contrition.html, id L22523.
Form and metre
Contrition is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABAA, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABABAA gloryA · liftedB · storyA · driftedB · gloryA · storyA
- 2 A-A-AA shamefulA · father · blamefulA · gather · shamefulA · blamefulA
- 3 ABABAA purityA · pureB · securityA · secureB · purityA · securityA
- 4 ABABAA achingA · needfulB · remakingA · heedfulB · achingA · makingA
- 5 A-A-AA vesselA · donor · nestleA · dishonour · vesselA · nestleA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Out of the gulf into the glory, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Father, my soul cries out to be lifted. | 10 | /˘······/˘ |
| Dark is the woof of my dismal story, | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| Thorough thy sun-warp stormily drifted!-- | 10 | /˘···/˘˘/˘ |
| Out of the gulf into the glory, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Lift me, and save my story. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| I have done many things merely shameful; | 10 | ···/˘·/˘/˘ |
| I am a man ashamed, my father! | 10 | ····˘/˘·/˘ |
| My life is ashamed and broken and blameful-- | 11 | ···˘/·/˘·/˘ |
| The broken and blameful, oh, cleanse and gather! | 11 | ·/˘·/˘···/˘ |
| Heartily shame me, Lord, of the shameful! | 10 | /˘˘·····/˘ |
| To my judge I flee with my blameful. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Saviour, at peace in thy perfect purity, | 11 | /˘····/·/˘˘ |
| Think what it is, not to be pure! | 8 | ········ |
| Strong in thy love's essential security, | 11 | ····˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Think upon those who are never secure. | 10 | ······/˘˘/ |
| Full fill my soul with the light of thy purity: | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Fold me in love's security. | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| O Father, O Brother, my heart is sore aching! | 12 | ·/˘·/˘····/˘ |
| Help it to ache as much as is needful; | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Is it you cleansing me, mending, remaking, | 11 | ···/˘·/˘//˘ |
| Dear potter-hands, so tender and heedful? | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·/˘ |
| Sick of my past, of my own self aching-- | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Hurt on, dear hands, with your making. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Proud of the form thou hadst given thy vessel, | 11 | ······/˘·/˘ |
| Proud of myself, I forgot my donor; | 10 | ···/·˘/·/˘ |
| Down in the dust I began to nestle, | 10 | ·····˘/·/˘ |
| Poured thee no wine, and drank deep of dishonour! | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Lord, thou hast broken, thou mendest thy vessel! | 11 | ···/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| In the dust of thy glory I nestle. | 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.