HOM. IL. V. 403
If thou art tempted by a thought of ill,Crave not too soon for victory, nor deemThou art a coward if thy safety seemTo spring too little from a righteous will;For there is nightmare on thee, nor untilThy soul hath caught the morning's early gleamSeek thou to analyze the monstrous dreamBy painful introversion; rather fillThine eye with forms thou knowest to be truth;But see thou cherish higher hope than this,--hope hereafter that thou shall be fitCalm-eyed to face distortion, and to sitTransparent among other forms of youthWho own no impulse save to God and bliss.
Words in this poem
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
- introversion n.
- The act of introverting, or the state of being introverted; the act of turning the mind inward. Berkeley. [See Introvert.]
- hereafter adv.
- In time to come; in some future time or state. [AS. hræfter.]
- 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
HOM. IL. V. 403 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, HOM. IL. V. 403, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/hom-il-v-403.html, id L22446.
Form and metre
HOM. IL. V. 403 is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBAABBACDEECD. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABBAABBACDEECD illA · deemB · seemB · willA · untilA · gleamB · dreamB · fillA · truthC · thisD · fitE · sitE · youthC · blissD
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| If thou art tempted by a thought of ill, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Crave not too soon for victory, nor deem | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Thou art a coward if thy safety seem | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| To spring too little from a righteous will; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| For there is nightmare on thee, nor until | 10 | ···/······ |
| Thy soul hath caught the morning's early gleam | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Seek thou to analyze the monstrous dream | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| By painful introversion; rather fill | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Thine eye with forms thou knowest to be truth; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But see thou cherish higher hope than this,-- | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| hope hereafter that thou shall be fit | 9 | ·˘/˘····· |
| Calm-eyed to face distortion, and to sit | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Transparent among other forms of youth | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Who own no impulse save to God and bliss. | 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.