Said and Did
Said the boy as he read, "I too will be bold,I will fight for the truth and its glory!"He went to the playground, and soon had toldA very cowardly story!
Said the girl as she read, "That was grand, I declare!What a true, what a lovely, sweet soul!"In half-an-hour she went up the stair,Looking as black as a coal!
"The mean little wretch, I wish I could flingThis book at his head!" said another;Then he went and did the same ugly thingTo his own little trusting brother!
Alas for him who sees a thing grandAnd does not fit himself to it!But the meanest act, on sea or on land,Is to find a fault, and then do it!
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- playground n.
- A piece of ground used for recreation; as, the playground of a school.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Said and Did 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, Said and Did, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/said-and-did.html, id L22354.
Form and metre
Said and Did is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 75%).
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 ABAB boldA · gloryB · toldA · storyB
- 2 ABAB declareA · soulB · stairA · coalB
- 3 ABAB flingA · anotherB · thingA · brotherB
- 4 ABAB grandA · itB · landA · itB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Said the boy as he read, "I too will be bold, | 11 | ··········· |
| I will fight for the truth and its glory!" | 10 | ········/˘ |
| He went to the playground, and soon had told | 10 | ····/····· |
| A very cowardly story! | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Said the girl as she read, "That was grand, I declare! | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| What a true, what a lovely, sweet soul!" | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| In half-an-hour she went up the stair, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Looking as black as a coal! | 7 | /˘····· |
| "The mean little wretch, I wish I could fling | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| This book at his head!" said another; | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Then he went and did the same ugly thing | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| To his own little trusting brother! | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| Alas for him who sees a thing grand | 9 | ˘/······· |
| And does not fit himself to it! | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| But the meanest act, on sea or on land, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| Is to find a fault, and then do it! | 9 | ········· |
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.