Oh That a Wind
Oh that a wind would callFrom the depths of the leafless wood!Oh that a voice would fallOn the ear of my solitude!
Far away is the sea,With its sound and its spirit tone;Over it white clouds flee;But I am alone, alone.
Straight and steady and tallThe trees stand on their feet;Fast by the old stone wallThe moss grows green and sweet;But my heart is full of fears,For the sun shines far away;And they look in my face through tears,And the light of a dying day.
My heart was glad last nightAs I pressed it with my palm;Its throb was airy and lightAs it sang some spirit psalm;But it died away in my breastAs I wandered forth to-day,--As a bird sat dead on its nest,While others sang on the spray.
O weary heart of mine,Is there ever a Truth for thee?Will ever a sun outshineBut the sun that shines on me?Away, away through the airThe clouds and the leaves are blown;And my heart hath need of prayer,For it sitteth alone, alone.
Words in this poem
- throb v. i.
- To beat, or pulsate, with more than usual force or rapidity; to beat in consequence of agitation; to palpitate; -- said of the heart, pulse, etc. [OE. ; of uncertain origin; cf. Russ. trepete a trembling, and E. trepidation.]
- outshine v. i.
- To shine forth.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Oh That a Wind 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, Oh That a Wind, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/oh-that-a-wind.html, id L22422.
Form and metre
Oh That a Wind is 32 lines in 5 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).
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 A-A- callA · wood · fallA · solitude
- 2 ABAB seaA · toneB · fleeA · aloneB
- 3 ABABCDCD tallA · feetB · wallA · sweetB · fearsC · awayD · tearsC · dayD
- 4 ABABCDCD nightA · palmB · lightA · psalmB · breastC · dayD · nestC · sprayD
- 5 ABABCDCD mineA · theeB · outshineA · meB · airC · blownD · prayerC · aloneD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oh that a wind would call | 6 | ······ |
| From the depths of the leafless wood! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Oh that a voice would fall | 6 | ······ |
| On the ear of my solitude! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Far away is the sea, | 6 | ·˘/··· |
| With its sound and its spirit tone; | 7 | ·····/· |
| Over it white clouds flee; | 6 | ······ |
| But I am alone, alone. | 7 | ···˘/˘/ |
| Straight and steady and tall | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| The trees stand on their feet; | 6 | ······ |
| Fast by the old stone wall | 6 | ······ |
| The moss grows green and sweet; | 6 | ······ |
| But my heart is full of fears, | 7 | ······· |
| For the sun shines far away; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| And they look in my face through tears, | 8 | ········ |
| And the light of a dying day. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| My heart was glad last night | 6 | ······ |
| As I pressed it with my palm; | 7 | ······· |
| Its throb was airy and light | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| As it sang some spirit psalm; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| But it died away in my breast | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| As I wandered forth to-day,-- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| As a bird sat dead on its nest, | 8 | ········ |
| While others sang on the spray. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| O weary heart of mine, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Is there ever a Truth for thee? | 7 | ··/···· |
| Will ever a sun outshine | 7 | ·/˘··/· |
| But the sun that shines on me? | 7 | ······· |
| Away, away through the air | 7 | ˘/˘/··· |
| The clouds and the leaves are blown; | 7 | ······· |
| And my heart hath need of prayer, | 7 | ······· |
| For it sitteth alone, alone. | 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.