From North Wales: To the Mother
When the summer gave us a longer day,And the leaves were thickest, I went away:Like an isle, through dark clouds, of the infinite blue,Was that summer-ramble from London and you.
It was but one burst into life and air,One backward glance on the skirts of care,A height on the hills with the smoke below--And the joy that came quickly was quick to go.
But I know and I cannot forget so soonHow the Earth is shone on by Sun and Moon;How the clouds hide the mountains, and how they moveWhen the morning sunshine lies warm above.
I know how the waters fall and runIn the rocks and the heather, away from the sun;How they hang like garlands on all hill-sides,And are the land's music, those crystal tides.
I know how they gather in valleys fair,Meet valleys those beautiful waves to bear;How they dance through the rocks, how they rest in the pool,How they darken, how sparkle, and how they are cool.
I know how the rocks from their kisses climbTo keep the storms off with a front sublime;And how on their platforms and sloping wallsThe shadow of oak-tree and fir-tree falls.
I know how the valleys are bright from far,Rocks, meadows, and waters, the wood and the scaur;And how the roadside and the nearest hillThe foxglove and heather and harebell fill.
I know--but the joy that was quick to goGave more knowledge to me than words can shew;And you know the story, and how they fareWho love the green earth and the heavenly air.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- scaur n.
- A precipitous bank or rock; a scar.
- roadside n.
- Land adjoining a road or highway; the part of a road or highway that borders the traveled part. Also used ajectively.
- harebell n.
- A small, slender, branching plant (Campanula rotundifolia), having blue bell-shaped flowers; also, Scilla nutans, which has similar flowers; -- called also bluebell.
- shew n.
- Show. [Obs. except in shewbread.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
From North Wales: To the Mother 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, From North Wales: To the Mother, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/from-north-wales-to-the-mother.html, id L22416.
Form and metre
From North Wales: To the Mother is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 6 of its 8 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 AABB dayA · awayA · blueB · youB
- 2 AABB airA · careA · belowB · goB
- 3 AABB soonA · moonA · moveB · aboveB
- 4 AABB runA · sunA · sidesB · tidesB
- 5 AABB fairA · bearA · poolB · coolB
- 6 AABB climbA · sublimeA · wallsB · fallsB
- 7 --AA far · scaur · hillA · fillA
- 8 --AA go · shew · fareA · airA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When the summer gave us a longer day, | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| And the leaves were thickest, I went away: | 10 | ····/˘··˘/ |
| Like an isle, through dark clouds, of the infinite blue, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| Was that summer-ramble from London and you. | 11 | ··/˘/˘·/˘·· |
| It was but one burst into life and air, | 10 | ·········· |
| One backward glance on the skirts of care, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| A height on the hills with the smoke below-- | 10 | ·········· |
| And the joy that came quickly was quick to go. | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| But I know and I cannot forget so soon | 11 | ·····˘/˘/·· |
| How the Earth is shone on by Sun and Moon; | 10 | ·········· |
| How the clouds hide the mountains, and how they move | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| When the morning sunshine lies warm above. | 10 | ··/˘/····· |
| I know how the waters fall and run | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| In the rocks and the heather, away from the sun; | 12 | ·····/˘˘/··· |
| How they hang like garlands on all hill-sides, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| And are the land's music, those crystal tides. | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| I know how they gather in valleys fair, | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| Meet valleys those beautiful waves to bear; | 10 | ·/˘·/˘˘··· |
| How they dance through the rocks, how they rest in the pool, | 12 | ············ |
| How they darken, how sparkle, and how they are cool. | 12 | ··/˘·/˘····· |
| I know how the rocks from their kisses climb | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| To keep the storms off with a front sublime; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And how on their platforms and sloping walls | 10 | ····/··/˘· |
| The shadow of oak-tree and fir-tree falls. | 10 | ·/········ |
| I know how the valleys are bright from far, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Rocks, meadows, and waters, the wood and the scaur; | 11 | ·/··/˘····· |
| And how the roadside and the nearest hill | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| The foxglove and heather and harebell fill. | 10 | ·/··/˘·/˘· |
| I know--but the joy that was quick to go | 10 | ·········· |
| Gave more knowledge to me than words can shew; | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| And you know the story, and how they fare | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Who love the green earth and the heavenly air. | 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.