December 28, 1879
A dim, vague shrinking haunts my soul,My spirit bodeth ill--As some far-off restraining bankHad burst, and waters, many a rank,Were marching on my hill;
As if I had no fire withinFor thoughts to sit about;As if I had no flax to spin,No lamp to lure the good things inAnd keep the bad things out.
The wind, south-west, raves in the pinesThat guard my cottage round;The sea-waves fall in stormy linesBelow the sandy cliffs and chines,And swell the roaring sound.
The misty air, the bellowing windNot often trouble me;The storm that's outside of the mindDoth oftener wake my heart to findMore peace and liberty.
Why is not such my fate to-night?Chance is not lord of things!Man were indeed a hapless wightThings, thoughts occurring as they might--Chaotic wallowings!
The man of moods might merely sayAs by the fire he sat,"I am low spirited to-day;I must do something, work or play,Lest care should kill the cat!"
Not such my saw: I was not meantTo be the sport of things!The mood has meaning and intent,And my dull heart is humbly bentTo have the truth it brings.
This sense of needed shelter round,This frequent mental startShow what a poor life mine were found,To what a dead self I were bound,How feeble were my heart,
If I who think did stand aloneCentre to what I thought,A brain within a box of bone,A king on a deserted throne,A something that was nought!
A being without power to be,Or any power to cease;Whom objects but compelled to see,Whose trouble was a windblown sea,A windless sea his peace!
This very sadness makes me thinkHow readily I mightBe driven to reason's farthest brink,Then over it, and sudden sinkIn ghastly waves of night.
It makes me know when I am glad'Tis thy strength makes me strong;But for thy bliss I should be sad,But for thy reason should be mad,But for thy right be wrong.
Around me spreads no empty waste,No lordless host of things;My restlessness but seeks thy rest;My little good doth seek thy best,My needs thy ministerings.
'Tis this, this only makes me safe--I am, immediate,Of one that lives; I am no waifThat haggard waters toss and chafe,But of a royal fate,
The born-child of a Power that livesBecause it will and can,A Love whose slightest motion gives,A Freedom that forever strivesTo liberate his Man.
I live not on the circling air,Live not by daily food;I live not even by thinkings fair,I hold my very being thereWhere God is pondering good.
Because God lives I live; becauseHe thinks, I also think;I am dependent on no lawsBut on himself, and without pause;Between us hangs no link.
The man that lives he knows not howMay well fear any mouse!I should be trembling this same nowIf I did think, my Father, thouWast nowhere in the house!
O Father, lift me on thine arm,And hold me close to thee;Lift me into thy breathing warm,Then cast me, and I fear no harm,Into creation's sea!
Words in this poem
- hapless a.
- Without hap or luck; luckless; unfortunate; unlucky; unhappy; as, hapless youth; hapless maid.
- wight n.
- A whit; a bit; a jot. [OE. wight, wiht, a wight, a whit, AS. wiht, wuht, a creature, a thing; skin to D. wicht a child, OS. & OHG. wiht a creature, thing, G. wicht a creature, Icel. v]
- chaotic a.
- Resembling chaos; confused.
- spirited a.
- Animated or possessed by a spirit.
- humbly adv.
- With humility; lowly.
- centre v. i.
- To be placed in a center; to be central.
- windless a.
- Having no wind; calm.
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
- brink n.
- The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge, as of a river or pit; a verge; a border; as, the brink of a chasm. Also Fig. [Dan. brink edge, verge; akin to Sw. brink declivity, hill, Icel. brekka; cf. LG. brink a grassy hill, W. bryn hill, bryncyn hillock.]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- haggard a.
- Wild or intractable; disposed to break away from duty; untamed; as, a haggard or refractory hawk. Shak [F. hagard; of German origin, and prop. meaning, of the hegde or woods, wild, untamed. See Hedge, 1st Haw, and -ard.]
- wast
- The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style.
- nowhere adv.
- Not anywhere; not in any place or state; as, the book is nowhere to be found. [AS. nahwær. See No, and Where.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
December 28, 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 28, 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-28-1879.html, id L22510.
Form and metre
December 28, 1879 is 95 lines in 19 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAAB, complete in 12 of its 19 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 -ABBA soul · illA · bankB · rankB · hillA
- 2 ABAAB withinA · aboutB · spinA · inA · outB
- 3 ABA-B pinesA · roundB · linesA · chines · soundB
- 4 A-AA- windA · me · mindA · findA · liberty
- 5 ABAAB nightA · thingsB · wightA · mightA · wallowingsB
- 6 ABAAB sayA · satB · dayA · playA · catB
- 7 ABAAB meantA · thingsB · intentA · bentA · bringsB
- 8 ABAAB roundA · startB · foundA · boundA · heartB
- 9 ABAAB aloneA · thoughtB · boneA · throneA · noughtB
- 10 ABAAB beA · ceaseB · seeA · seaA · peaceB
- 11 ABAAB thinkA · mightB · brinkA · sinkA · nightB
- 12 ABAAB gladA · strongB · sadA · madA · wrongB
- 13 -ABBA waste · thingsA · restB · bestB · ministeringsA
- 14 ABAAB safeA · immediateB · waifA · chafeA · fateB
- 15 ABA-B livesA · canB · givesA · strives · manB
- 16 A-AA- airA · food · fairA · thereA · good
- 17 ABAAB becauseA · thinkB · lawsA · pauseA · linkB
- 18 ABAAB howA · mouseB · nowA · thouA · houseB
- 19 AB-AB armA · theeB · warm · harmA · seaB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A dim, vague shrinking haunts my soul, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| My spirit bodeth ill-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| As some far-off restraining bank | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Had burst, and waters, many a rank, | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| Were marching on my hill; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| As if I had no fire within | 8 | ·····/·· |
| For thoughts to sit about; | 6 | ······ |
| As if I had no flax to spin, | 8 | ········ |
| No lamp to lure the good things in | 8 | ········ |
| And keep the bad things out. | 6 | ······ |
| The wind, south-west, raves in the pines | 8 | ········ |
| That guard my cottage round; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The sea-waves fall in stormy lines | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Below the sandy cliffs and chines, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And swell the roaring sound. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The misty air, the bellowing wind | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Not often trouble me; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| The storm that's outside of the mind | 8 | ···//··· |
| Doth oftener wake my heart to find | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| More peace and liberty. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Why is not such my fate to-night? | 8 | ········ |
| Chance is not lord of things! | 6 | ······ |
| Man were indeed a hapless wight | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Things, thoughts occurring as they might-- | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Chaotic wallowings! | 6 | ˘/˘/˘˘ |
| The man of moods might merely say | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As by the fire he sat, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| "I am low spirited to-day; | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| I must do something, work or play, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Lest care should kill the cat!" | 6 | ······ |
| Not such my saw: I was not meant | 8 | ········ |
| To be the sport of things! | 6 | ······ |
| The mood has meaning and intent, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And my dull heart is humbly bent | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To have the truth it brings. | 6 | ······ |
| This sense of needed shelter round, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| This frequent mental start | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Show what a poor life mine were found, | 8 | ········ |
| To what a dead self I were bound, | 8 | ········ |
| How feeble were my heart, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| If I who think did stand alone | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Centre to what I thought, | 6 | /˘···· |
| A brain within a box of bone, | 8 | ········ |
| A king on a deserted throne, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| A something that was nought! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A being without power to be, | 8 | ·/··/˘·· |
| Or any power to cease; | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| Whom objects but compelled to see, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Whose trouble was a windblown sea, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A windless sea his peace! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| This very sadness makes me think | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| How readily I might | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Be driven to reason's farthest brink, | 8 | ·/·/˘/˘· |
| Then over it, and sudden sink | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In ghastly waves of night. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| It makes me know when I am glad | 8 | ········ |
| 'Tis thy strength makes me strong; | 6 | ······ |
| But for thy bliss I should be sad, | 8 | ········ |
| But for thy reason should be mad, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But for thy right be wrong. | 6 | ······ |
| Around me spreads no empty waste, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| No lordless host of things; | 6 | ······ |
| My restlessness but seeks thy rest; | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| My little good doth seek thy best, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| My needs thy ministerings. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| 'Tis this, this only makes me safe-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I am, immediate, | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| Of one that lives; I am no waif | 8 | ········ |
| That haggard waters toss and chafe, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| But of a royal fate, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The born-child of a Power that lives | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Because it will and can, | 6 | ······ |
| A Love whose slightest motion gives, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| A Freedom that forever strives | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| To liberate his Man. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I live not on the circling air, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Live not by daily food; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I live not even by thinkings fair, | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| I hold my very being there | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Where God is pondering good. | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Because God lives I live; because | 8 | ········ |
| He thinks, I also think; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I am dependent on no laws | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| But on himself, and without pause; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Between us hangs no link. | 6 | ······ |
| The man that lives he knows not how | 8 | ········ |
| May well fear any mouse! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I should be trembling this same now | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| If I did think, my Father, thou | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Wast nowhere in the house! | 6 | ·/···· |
| O Father, lift me on thine arm, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And hold me close to thee; | 6 | ······ |
| Lift me into thy breathing warm, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Then cast me, and I fear no harm, | 8 | ········ |
| Into creation's sea! | 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.