In the Night
As to her child a mother calls,"Come to me, child; come near!"Calling, in silent intervals,The Master's voice I hear.
But does he call me verily?To have me does he care?Why should he seek my poverty,My selfishness so bare?
The dear voice makes his gladness brim,But not a child can knowWhy that large woman cares for him,Why she should love him so!
Lord, to thy call of me I bow,Obey like Abraham:Thou lov'st me because thou art thou,And I am what I am!
Doubt whispers, Thou art such a blotHe cannot love poor thee:If what I am he loveth not,He loves what I shall be.
Nay, that which can be drawn and wooed,And turned away from ill,Is what his father made for good:He loves me, I say still!
Words in this poem
- 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
In the Night 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, In the Night, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/in-the-night.html, id L22298.
Form and metre
In the Night is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
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 ABAB callsA · nearB · intervalsA · hearB
- 2 -A-A verily · careA · poverty · bareA
- 3 ABAB brimA · knowB · himA · soB
- 4 ABAB bowA · abrahamB · thouA · amB
- 5 ABAB blotA · theeB · notA · beB
- 6 -A-A wooed · illA · good · stillA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| As to her child a mother calls, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| "Come to me, child; come near!" | 6 | ······ |
| Calling, in silent intervals, | 8 | /˘·/˘/˘˘ |
| The Master's voice I hear. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But does he call me verily? | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| To have me does he care? | 6 | ······ |
| Why should he seek my poverty, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| My selfishness so bare? | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| The dear voice makes his gladness brim, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But not a child can know | 6 | ······ |
| Why that large woman cares for him, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Why she should love him so! | 6 | ······ |
| Lord, to thy call of me I bow, | 8 | ········ |
| Obey like Abraham: | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Thou lov'st me because thou art thou, | 8 | ········ |
| And I am what I am! | 6 | ······ |
| Doubt whispers, Thou art such a blot | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| He cannot love poor thee: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| If what I am he loveth not, | 8 | ········ |
| He loves what I shall be. | 6 | ······ |
| Nay, that which can be drawn and wooed, | 8 | ········ |
| And turned away from ill, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Is what his father made for good: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He loves me, I say still! | 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.