Shall the Dead Praise Thee?
I cannot praise thee. By his instrumentThe master sits, and moves nor foot nor hand;For see the organ-pipes this, that way bent,Leaning, o'erthrown, like wheat-stalks tempest-fanned!
I well could praise thee for a flower, a dove,But not for life that is not life in me;Not for a being that is less than love--A barren shoal half lifted from a sea!
Unto a land where no wind bloweth shipsThy wind one day will blow me to my own:Rather I'd kiss no more their loving lipsThan carry them a heart so poor and prone!
I bless thee, Father, thou art what thou art,That thou dost know thyself what thou dost know--A perfect, simple, tender, rhythmic heart,Beating its blood to all in bounteous flow.
And I can bless thee too for every smart,For every disappointment, ache, and fear;For every hook thou fixest in my heart,For every burning cord that draws me near.
But prayer these wake, not song. Thyself I crave.Come thou, or all thy gifts away I fling.Thou silent, I am but an empty grave:Think to me, Father, and I am a king!
My organ-pipes will then stand up awake,Their life soar, as from smouldering wood the blaze;And swift contending harmonies shall shakeThy windows with a storm of jubilant praise.
Words in this poem
- rhythmic a.
- Pertaining to, or of the nature of, rhythm DAy and night I worked my rhythmic thought. Mrs. Browning. [Gr. rhythmicus, F. rhythmique.]
- bounteous a.
- Liberal in charity; disposed to give freely; generously liberal; munificent; beneficent; free in bestowing gifts; as, bounteous production. [OE. bountevous, fr. bounte bounty.]
- disappointment n.
- The act of disappointing, or the state of being disappointed; defeat or failure of expectation or hope; miscarriage of design or plan; frustration. [Cf. F. désappointement.]
- ache n.
- A name given to several species of plants; as, smallage, wild celery, parsley. Holland. [F. ache, L. apium parsley.]
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
- smouldering a.
- Being in a state of suppressed activity; quiet but not dead.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- jubilant a.
- Uttering songs of triumph; shouting with joy; triumphant; exulting. [L. jubilans, -antis, p. pr. of jubilare to shout for joy: cf. F. jubila. See Jubilate.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Shall the Dead Praise Thee? 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, Shall the Dead Praise Thee?, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/shall-the-dead-praise-thee.html, id L22492.
Form and metre
Shall the Dead Praise Thee? is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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 ABAB instrumentA · handB · bentA · fannedB
- 2 ABAB doveA · meB · loveA · seaB
- 3 ABAB shipsA · ownB · lipsA · proneB
- 4 ABAB artA · knowB · heartA · flowB
- 5 ABAB smartA · fearB · heartA · nearB
- 6 ABAB craveA · flingB · graveA · kingB
- 7 ABAB awakeA · blazeB · shakeA · praiseB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I cannot praise thee. By his instrument | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| The master sits, and moves nor foot nor hand; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| For see the organ-pipes this, that way bent, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Leaning, o'erthrown, like wheat-stalks tempest-fanned! | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| I well could praise thee for a flower, a dove, | 10 | ·······/·· |
| But not for life that is not life in me; | 10 | ·········· |
| Not for a being that is less than love-- | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| A barren shoal half lifted from a sea! | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Unto a land where no wind bloweth ships | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Thy wind one day will blow me to my own: | 10 | ·········· |
| Rather I'd kiss no more their loving lips | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Than carry them a heart so poor and prone! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| I bless thee, Father, thou art what thou art, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| That thou dost know thyself what thou dost know-- | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| A perfect, simple, tender, rhythmic heart, | 10 | ·/·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Beating its blood to all in bounteous flow. | 11 | /˘·····/˘˘· |
| And I can bless thee too for every smart, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| For every disappointment, ache, and fear; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| For every hook thou fixest in my heart, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| For every burning cord that draws me near. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| But prayer these wake, not song. Thyself I crave. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Come thou, or all thy gifts away I fling. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Thou silent, I am but an empty grave: | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Think to me, Father, and I am a king! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| My organ-pipes will then stand up awake, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Their life soar, as from smouldering wood the blaze; | 11 | ··········· |
| And swift contending harmonies shall shake | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘˘·· |
| Thy windows with a storm of jubilant praise. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
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