Fighting
Here is a temple strangely wrought:Within it I can seeTwo spirits of a diverse thoughtContend for mastery.
One is an angel fair and bright,Adown the aisle comes he,Adown the aisle in raiment white,A creature fair to see.
The other wears an evil mien,And he hath doubtless slipt,A fearful being dark and lean,Up from the mouldy crypt.
Is that the roof that grows so black?Did some one call my name?Was it the bursting thunder crackThat filled this place with flame?
I move--I wake from out my sleep:Some one hath victor been!I see two radiant pinions sweep,And I am borne between.
Beneath the clouds that under rollAn upturned face I see--A dead man's face, but, ah, the soulWas right well known to me!
A man's dead face! Away I hasteThrough regions calm and fair:Go vanquish sin, and thou shall tasteThe same celestial air.
Words in this poem
- strangely adv.
- As something foreign, or not one's own; in a manner adapted to something foreign and strange.
- adown adv.
- From a higher to a lower situation; downward; down, to or on the ground. [OE. adun, adoun, adune. AS. of dune off the hill. See Down.]
- doubtless a.
- Free from fear or suspicion.
- mouldy a.
- Overgrown with, or containing, mold; as, moldy cheese or bread. [From Mold the growth of fungi.]
- crypt n.
- A vault wholly or partly under ground; especially, a vault under a church, whether used for burial purposes or for a subterranean chapel or oratory. [L. crypta vault, crypt, Gr. Crot, Crotto.]
- 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
Fighting 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, Fighting, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/fighting.html, id L22430.
Form and metre
Fighting is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in common measure.
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 A-A- wroughtA · see · thoughtA · mastery
- 2 ABAB brightA · heB · whiteA · seeB
- 3 ABAB mienA · sliptB · leanA · cryptB
- 4 ABAB blackA · nameB · crackA · flameB
- 5 A-A- sleepA · been · sweepA · between
- 6 ABAB rollA · seeB · soulA · meB
- 7 ABAB hasteA · fairB · tasteA · airB
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Here is a temple strangely wrought: | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Within it I can see | 6 | ······ |
| Two spirits of a diverse thought | 8 | ·/˘··˘/· |
| Contend for mastery. | 6 | ˘/·/˘˘ |
| One is an angel fair and bright, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Adown the aisle comes he, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Adown the aisle in raiment white, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| A creature fair to see. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The other wears an evil mien, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And he hath doubtless slipt, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A fearful being dark and lean, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Up from the mouldy crypt. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Is that the roof that grows so black? | 8 | ········ |
| Did some one call my name? | 6 | ······ |
| Was it the bursting thunder crack | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| That filled this place with flame? | 6 | ······ |
| I move--I wake from out my sleep: | 8 | ········ |
| Some one hath victor been! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I see two radiant pinions sweep, | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘· |
| And I am borne between. | 6 | ······ |
| Beneath the clouds that under roll | 8 | ········ |
| An upturned face I see-- | 6 | ·˘/··· |
| A dead man's face, but, ah, the soul | 8 | ········ |
| Was right well known to me! | 6 | ······ |
| A man's dead face! Away I haste | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Through regions calm and fair: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Go vanquish sin, and thou shall taste | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The same celestial air. | 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.