On a Midge
Whence do ye come, ye creatures? Each of youIs perfect as an angel! wings and eyesStupendous in their beauty--gorgeous dyesIn feathery fields of purple and of blue!Would God I saw a moment as ye do!I would become a molecule in size,Rest with you, hum with you, or slanting riseAlong your one dear sunbeam, could I viewThe pearly secret which each tiny fly--Each tiny fly that hums and bobs and stirsHides in its little breast eternallyFrom you, ye prickly, grim philosophersWith all your theories that sound so high:Hark to the buz a moment, my good sirs!
Words in this poem
- stupendous a.
- Astonishing; wonderful; amazing; especially, astonishing in magnitude or elevation; as, a stupendous pile. [L. stupendus astonishing, p. future pass. of stupere to be astonished at. Cf. Stupid.]
- gorgeous a.
- Imposing through splendid or various colors; showy; fine; magnificent. [OF. gorgias beautiful, glorious, vain, luxurious; cf. OF. gorgias ruff, neck handkerchief, and F. gorge throat, and se pengorger to assume airs. Cf. Gorge, n.]
- sunbeam n.
- A beam or ray of the sun. [AS. sunnebeam.]
- eternally adv.
- In an eternal manner.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On a Midge 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, On a Midge, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/on-a-midge.html, id L22460.
Form and metre
On a Midge is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 ABBAABBACD-DCD youA · eyesB · dyesB · blueA · doA · sizeB · riseB · viewA · flyC · stirsD · eternally · philosophersD · highC · sirsD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Whence do ye come, ye creatures? Each of you | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Is perfect as an angel! wings and eyes | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| Stupendous in their beauty--gorgeous dyes | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| In feathery fields of purple and of blue! | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Would God I saw a moment as ye do! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I would become a molecule in size, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Rest with you, hum with you, or slanting rise | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Along your one dear sunbeam, could I view | 10 | ˘/···/···· |
| The pearly secret which each tiny fly-- | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Each tiny fly that hums and bobs and stirs | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Hides in its little breast eternally | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| From you, ye prickly, grim philosophers | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| With all your theories that sound so high: | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Hark to the buz a moment, my good sirs! | 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.