Lessons for a Child I
There breathes not a breath of the summer airBut the spirit of love is moving there;Not a trembling leaf on the shadowy tree,Flutters with hundreds in harmony,But that spirit can part its tone from the rest,And read the life in its beetle's breast.When the sunshiny butterflies come and go,Like flowers paying visits to and fro,Not a single wave of their fanning wingsIs unfelt by the spirit that feeleth all things.The long-mantled moths that sleep at noonAnd rove in the light of the gentler moon;And the myriad gnats that dance like a wall,Or a moving column that will not fall;And the dragon-flies that go burning by,Shot like a glance from a seeking eye--There is one being that loves them all:Not a fly in a spider's web can fallBut he cares for the spider, and cares for the fly;He cares for you, whether you laugh or cry,Cares whether your mother smile or sigh.How he cares for so many, I do not know,But it would be too strange if he did not so--Dreadful and dreary for even a fly:So I cannot wait for the how and why,But believe that all things are gathered and nursedIn the love of him whose love went firstAnd made this world--like a huge great nestFor a hen to sit on with feathery breast.
Words in this poem
- sunshiny a.
- Bright with the rays of the sun; clear, warm, or pleasant; as, a sunshiny day.
- myriad n.
- The number of ten thousand; ten thousand persons or things. [Gr. myriade.]
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- 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.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Lessons for a Child I 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, Lessons for a Child I, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/lessons-for-a-child-i.html, id L22330.
Form and metre
Lessons for a Child I is 29 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 62% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 72%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AA--BBCCDDEEFFGGFFGGGCCGGHHBB airA · thereA · tree · harmony · restB · breastB · goC · froC · wingsD · thingsD · noonE · moonE · wallF · fallF · byG · eyeG · allF · fallF · flyG · cryG · sighG · knowC · soC · flyG · whyG · nursedH · firstH · nestB · breastB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| There breathes not a breath of the summer air | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But the spirit of love is moving there; | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| Not a trembling leaf on the shadowy tree, | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| Flutters with hundreds in harmony, | 9 | /˘·/˘·/˘˘ |
| But that spirit can part its tone from the rest, | 10 | ··/······· |
| And read the life in its beetle's breast. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| When the sunshiny butterflies come and go, | 11 | ··/·˘/˘···· |
| Like flowers paying visits to and fro, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Not a single wave of their fanning wings | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| Is unfelt by the spirit that feeleth all things. | 11 | ·····/·/˘·· |
| The long-mantled moths that sleep at noon | 10 | ··/˘˘····· |
| And rove in the light of the gentler moon; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And the myriad gnats that dance like a wall, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| Or a moving column that will not fall; | 10 | ··/˘/˘···· |
| And the dragon-flies that go burning by, | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| Shot like a glance from a seeking eye-- | 9 | ······/˘· |
| There is one being that loves them all: | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Not a fly in a spider's web can fall | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But he cares for the spider, and cares for the fly; | 11 | ·····/····· |
| He cares for you, whether you laugh or cry, | 10 | ·········· |
| Cares whether your mother smile or sigh. | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| How he cares for so many, I do not know, | 10 | ·····/···· |
| But it would be too strange if he did not so-- | 11 | ··········· |
| Dreadful and dreary for even a fly: | 10 | /˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| So I cannot wait for the how and why, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| But believe that all things are gathered and nursed | 11 | ·˘/····/˘·· |
| In the love of him whose love went first | 9 | ········· |
| And made this world--like a huge great nest | 9 | ········· |
| For a hen to sit on with feathery breast. | 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.