December 27, 1879
Every time would have its songIf the heart were right,Seeing Love all tender-strongFills the day and night.
Weary drop the hands of PrayerCalling out for peace;Love always and everywhereSings and does not cease.
Fear, the caitiff, through the nightSilent peers about;Love comes singing with a lightAnd doth cast him out.
Hate and Guile and Wrath and DoubtNever try to sing;If they did, oh, what a routAnguished ears would sting!
Pride indeed will sometimes aimAt the finer speech,But the best that he can frameIs a peacock-screech.
Greed will also sometimes try:Happiness he hunts!But his dwelling is a sty,And his tones are grunts.
Faith will sometimes raise a songSoaring up to heaven,Then she will be silent long,And will weep at even.
Hope has many a gladsome noteNow and then to pipe;But, alas, he has the throatOf a bird unripe.
Often Joy a stave will startWhich the welkin rends,But it always breaks athwart,And untimely ends.
Grief, who still for death doth long,Always self-abhorred,Has but one low, troubled song,I am sorry, Lord.
But Love singeth in the vault.Singeth on the stair;Even for Sorrow will not halt,Singeth everywhere.
For the great Love everywhereOver all doth glow;Draws his birds up trough the air,Tends his birds below.
And with songs ascending sheerLove-born Love replies,Singing Father in his earWhere she bleeding lies.
Therefore, if my heart were rightI should sing out clear,Sing aloud both day and nightEvery month in the year!
Words in this poem
- caitiff a.
- Captive; wretched; unfortunate. [OE. caitif, cheitif, captive, miserable, OF. caitif, chaitif, captive, mean, wretched, F. chétif, fr. L. captivus captive, fr. capere to take, akin to E. heave.]
- greed n.
- An eager desire or longing; greediness; as, a greed of gain. [Akin to Goth. grdus hunger, Icel. graedhr. sq. root34. See Greedy.]
- gladsome a.
- Pleased; joyful; cheerful.
- welkin n.
- The visible regions of the air; the vault of heaven; the sky. [OE. welken, welkene, welkne, wolcne, weolcne, AS. wolcen, pl. wolcnu, a cloud; akin to D. wolk, OFries. wolken, OS. wolkan, G. wolke, OHG. wolchan, and probably]
- aloud adv.
- With a loud voice, or great noise; loudly; audibly. [Pref. a- + loud.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
December 27, 1879 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, December 27, 1879, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/december-27-1879.html, id L22509.
Form and metre
December 27, 1879 is 56 lines in 14 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 12 of its 14 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 ABAB songA · rightB · strongA · nightB
- 2 ABAB prayerA · peaceB · everywhereA · ceaseB
- 3 ABAB nightA · aboutB · lightA · outB
- 4 ABAB doubtA · singB · routA · stingB
- 5 ABAB aimA · speechB · frameA · screechB
- 6 ABAB tryA · huntsB · styA · gruntsB
- 7 A-A- songA · heaven · longA · even
- 8 ABAB noteA · pipeB · throatA · unripeB
- 9 -A-A start · rendsA · athwart · endsA
- 10 ABAB longA · abhorredB · songA · lordB
- 11 ABAB vaultA · stairB · haltA · everywhereB
- 12 ABAB everywhereA · glowB · airA · belowB
- 13 ABAB sheerA · repliesB · earA · liesB
- 14 ABAB rightA · clearB · nightA · yearB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Every time would have its song | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| If the heart were right, | 5 | ····· |
| Seeing Love all tender-strong | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Fills the day and night. | 5 | ····· |
| Weary drop the hands of Prayer | 7 | /˘····· |
| Calling out for peace; | 5 | /˘··· |
| Love always and everywhere | 7 | ·/··/˘· |
| Sings and does not cease. | 5 | ····· |
| Fear, the caitiff, through the night | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Silent peers about; | 5 | /˘··· |
| Love comes singing with a light | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And doth cast him out. | 5 | ····· |
| Hate and Guile and Wrath and Doubt | 7 | ······· |
| Never try to sing; | 5 | /˘··· |
| If they did, oh, what a rout | 7 | ······· |
| Anguished ears would sting! | 5 | /˘··· |
| Pride indeed will sometimes aim | 7 | ·˘/·/·· |
| At the finer speech, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| But the best that he can frame | 7 | ······· |
| Is a peacock-screech. | 5 | ··/·· |
| Greed will also sometimes try: | 7 | ··/˘/·· |
| Happiness he hunts! | 5 | /˘˘·· |
| But his dwelling is a sty, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And his tones are grunts. | 5 | ····· |
| Faith will sometimes raise a song | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| Soaring up to heaven, | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Then she will be silent long, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And will weep at even. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Hope has many a gladsome note | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Now and then to pipe; | 5 | ····· |
| But, alas, he has the throat | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Of a bird unripe. | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Often Joy a stave will start | 7 | /˘····· |
| Which the welkin rends, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| But it always breaks athwart, | 7 | ··/··˘/ |
| And untimely ends. | 5 | ·˘/˘· |
| Grief, who still for death doth long, | 7 | ······· |
| Always self-abhorred, | 5 | /··˘/ |
| Has but one low, troubled song, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| I am sorry, Lord. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| But Love singeth in the vault. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Singeth on the stair; | 5 | /˘··· |
| Even for Sorrow will not halt, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Singeth everywhere. | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| For the great Love everywhere | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Over all doth glow; | 5 | ····· |
| Draws his birds up trough the air, | 7 | ······· |
| Tends his birds below. | 5 | ····· |
| And with songs ascending sheer | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Love-born Love replies, | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Singing Father in his ear | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Where she bleeding lies. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Therefore, if my heart were right | 7 | ······· |
| I should sing out clear, | 5 | ····· |
| Sing aloud both day and night | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Every month in the year! | 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.