Poem
Blue sky above, blue sea below,Far off, the old Nile's mouth,'Twas a blue world, wherein did blowA soft wind from the south.
In great and solemn heaves the massOf pulsing ocean beat,Unwrinkled as the sea of glassBeneath the holy feet.
With forward leaning of desireThe ship sped calmly on,A pilgrim strong that would not tireOr hasten to be gone.
List!--on the wave!--what can they be,Those sounds that hither glide?No lovers whisper tremulouslyUnder the ship's round side!
No sail across the dark blue sphereHolds white obedient way;No far-fled, sharp-winged boat is near,No following fish at play!
'Tis not the rippling of the wave,Nor sighing of the cords;No winds or waters ever gaveA murmur so like words;
Nor wings of birds that northward strain,Nor talk of hidden crew:The traveller questioned, but in vain--He found no answer true.
A hundred level miles away,On Egypt's troubled shore,Two nations fought, that sunny day,With bellowing cannons' roar.
The fluttering whisper, low and near,Was that far battle's blare;A lipping, rippling motion here,The blasting thunder there.
Can this dull sighing in my breastSo faint and undefined,Be the worn edge of far unrestBorne on the spirit's wind?
The uproar of high battle foughtBetwixt the bond and free,The thunderous roll of armed thoughtDwarfed to an ache in me?
Words in this poem
- heaves n.
- A disease of horses, characterized by difficult breathing, with heaving of the flank, wheezing, flatulency, and a peculiar cough; broken wind.
- northward a.
- Toward the north; nearer to the north than to the east or west point. [AS. noredhweard.]
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- blare v. i.
- To sound loudly and somewhat harshly. [OE. blaren, bloren, to cry, woop; cf. G. plärren to bleat, D. blaren to bleat, cry, weep. Prob. an imitative word, but cf. also E. blast. Cf. Blore.]
- unrest n.
- Want of rest or repose; unquietness; sleeplessness; uneasiness; disquietude.
- betwixt prep.
- In the space which separates; between. [OE. betwix, bitwix, rarely bitwixt, AS. betweox, betweohs, betweoh, betwih; pref. be- by + a form fr. AS. twa two. See Between.]
- thunderous a.
- Producing thunder. [Written also thundrous.]
- ache n.
- A name given to several species of plants; as, smallage, wild celery, parsley. Holland. [F. ache, L. apium parsley.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poem 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, Poem, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/poem.html, id L22259.
Form and metre
Poem is 44 lines in 11 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 9 of its 11 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 belowA · mouthB · blowA · southB
- 2 ABAB massA · beatB · glassA · feetB
- 3 ABAB desireA · onB · tireA · goneB
- 4 -A-A be · glideA · tremulously · sideA
- 5 ABAB sphereA · wayB · nearA · playB
- 6 A-A- waveA · cords · gaveA · words
- 7 ABAB strainA · crewB · vainA · trueB
- 8 ABAB awayA · shoreB · dayA · roarB
- 9 ABAB nearA · blareB · hereA · thereB
- 10 ABAB breastA · undefinedB · unrestA · windB
- 11 ABAB foughtA · freeB · thoughtA · meB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Blue sky above, blue sea below, | 8 | ········ |
| Far off, the old Nile's mouth, | 6 | ······ |
| 'Twas a blue world, wherein did blow | 8 | ········ |
| A soft wind from the south. | 6 | ······ |
| In great and solemn heaves the mass | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of pulsing ocean beat, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Unwrinkled as the sea of glass | 7 | ······· |
| Beneath the holy feet. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| With forward leaning of desire | 9 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| The ship sped calmly on, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A pilgrim strong that would not tire | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Or hasten to be gone. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| List!--on the wave!--what can they be, | 8 | ········ |
| Those sounds that hither glide? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| No lovers whisper tremulously | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘˘ |
| Under the ship's round side! | 6 | ······ |
| No sail across the dark blue sphere | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Holds white obedient way; | 7 | ··˘/˘˘· |
| No far-fled, sharp-winged boat is near, | 8 | ········ |
| No following fish at play! | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| 'Tis not the rippling of the wave, | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| Nor sighing of the cords; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| No winds or waters ever gave | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| A murmur so like words; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Nor wings of birds that northward strain, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Nor talk of hidden crew: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The traveller questioned, but in vain-- | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘··· |
| He found no answer true. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A hundred level miles away, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| On Egypt's troubled shore, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Two nations fought, that sunny day, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| With bellowing cannons' roar. | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| The fluttering whisper, low and near, | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘··· |
| Was that far battle's blare; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A lipping, rippling motion here, | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘/˘· |
| The blasting thunder there. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Can this dull sighing in my breast | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| So faint and undefined, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Be the worn edge of far unrest | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Borne on the spirit's wind? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The uproar of high battle fought | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Betwixt the bond and free, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| The thunderous roll of armed thought | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Dwarfed to an ache in me? | 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.