Second Sight
Rich is the fancy which can double backAll seeming forms, and from cold iciclesBuild up high glittering palaces where dwellsSummer perfection, moulding all this wrackTo spirit symmetry, and doth not lackThe power to hear amidst the funeral bellsThe eternal heart's wind-melody which swellsIn whirlwind flashes all along its track!So hath the sun made all the winter mineWith gardens springing round me fresh and fair;On hidden leaves uncounted jewels shine;I live with forms of beauty everywhere,Peopling the crumbling waste and icy poolWith sights and sounds of life most beautiful.
Words in this poem
- moulding n.
- The act or process of shaping in or on a mold, or of making molds; the art or occupation of a molder.
- wrack n.
- Wreck; ruin; destruction. [OE. wrak wreck. See Wreck.]
- amidst prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Second Sight 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, Second Sight, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/second-sight.html, id L22444.
Form and metre
Second Sight is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBAABBACDCDEE. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
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 ABBAABBACDCDEE backA · iciclesB · dwellsB · wrackA · lackA · bellsB · swellsB · trackA · mineC · fairD · shineC · everywhereD · poolE · beautifulE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Rich is the fancy which can double back | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| All seeming forms, and from cold icicles | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| Build up high glittering palaces where dwells | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| Summer perfection, moulding all this wrack | 10 | /˘˘/˘/˘··· |
| To spirit symmetry, and doth not lack | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘···· |
| The power to hear amidst the funeral bells | 10 | ·/··˘/·/˘· |
| The eternal heart's wind-melody which swells | 10 | ·˘/˘··/˘·· |
| In whirlwind flashes all along its track! | 10 | ·/·/˘·˘/·· |
| So hath the sun made all the winter mine | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| With gardens springing round me fresh and fair; | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| On hidden leaves uncounted jewels shine; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| I live with forms of beauty everywhere, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Peopling the crumbling waste and icy pool | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| With sights and sounds of life most beautiful. | 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.