In the Winter
In the winter, flowers are springing;In the winter, woods are green,Where our banished birds are singing,Where our summer sun is seen!Our cold midnights are coevalWith an evening and a mornWhere the forest-gods hold revel,And the spring is newly born!
While the earth is full of fighting,While men rise and curse their day,While the foolish strong are smiting,And the foolish weak betray--The true hearts beyond are growing,The brave spirits work alone,Where Love's summer-wind is blowingIn a truth-irradiate zone!
While we cannot shape our livingTo the beauty of our skies,While man wants and earth is giving--Nature calls and man denies--How the old worlds round Him gatherWhere their Maker is their sun!How the children know the FatherWhere the will of God is done!
Daily woven with our story,Sounding far above our strife,Is a time-enclosing glory,Is a space-absorbing life.We can dream no dream Elysian,There is no good thing might be,But some angel has the vision,But some human soul shall see!
Is thy strait horizon dreary?Is thy foolish fancy chill?Change the feet that have grown wearyFor the wings that never will.Burst the flesh, and live the spirit;Haunt the beautiful and far;Thou hast all things to inherit,And a soul for every star.
Words in this poem
- coeval a.
- Of the same age; existing during the same period of time, especially time long and remote; -- usually followed by with. [L. coaevus; co- + aevum lifetime, age. See Age, n.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- elysian a.
- Pertaining, or the abode of the blessed after death; hence, yielding the highest pleasures; exceedingly delightful; beatific. [L. Elysius, fr. Elysium.]
- 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,]
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In the Winter 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 Winter, 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-winter.html, id L22363.
Form and metre
In the Winter is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABAB-C-C springingA · greenB · singingA · seenB · coeval · mornC · revel · bornC
- 2 -A-ABCBC fighting · dayA · smiting · betrayA · growingB · aloneC · blowingB · zoneC
- 3 ABAB-C-C livingA · skiesB · givingA · deniesB · gather · sunC · father · doneC
- 4 ABAB-C-C storyA · strifeB · gloryA · lifeB · elysian · beC · vision · seeC
- 5 ABAB-C-C drearyA · chillB · wearyA · willB · spirit · farC · inherit · starC
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In the winter, flowers are springing; | 9 | ··/˘/˘·/˘ |
| In the winter, woods are green, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Where our banished birds are singing, | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Where our summer sun is seen! | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Our cold midnights are coeval | 9 | /˘·/··˘/˘ |
| With an evening and a morn | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Where the forest-gods hold revel, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| And the spring is newly born! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| While the earth is full of fighting, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| While men rise and curse their day, | 7 | ······· |
| While the foolish strong are smiting, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| And the foolish weak betray-- | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| The true hearts beyond are growing, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| The brave spirits work alone, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Where Love's summer-wind is blowing | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| In a truth-irradiate zone! | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| While we cannot shape our living | 9 | ··˘/·/˘/˘ |
| To the beauty of our skies, | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| While man wants and earth is giving-- | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Nature calls and man denies-- | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| How the old worlds round Him gather | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Where their Maker is their sun! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| How the children know the Father | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Where the will of God is done! | 7 | ······· |
| Daily woven with our story, | 9 | /˘/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Sounding far above our strife, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Is a time-enclosing glory, | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| Is a space-absorbing life. | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| We can dream no dream Elysian, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| There is no good thing might be, | 7 | ······· |
| But some angel has the vision, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| But some human soul shall see! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Is thy strait horizon dreary? | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| Is thy foolish fancy chill? | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Change the feet that have grown weary | 8 | ······/˘ |
| For the wings that never will. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Burst the flesh, and live the spirit; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Haunt the beautiful and far; | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| Thou hast all things to inherit, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| And a soul for every star. | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
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.