Song of the Waiting Dead
With us there is no gray fearing,With us no aching for lack!For the morn it is always nearing,And the night is at our back.At times a song will fall dumb,A thought-bell burst in a sigh,But no one says, "He will not come!"She says, "He is almost nigh!"
The thing you call a sorrowIs our delight on its way:We know that the coming morrowComes on the wheels of to-day!Our Past is a child asleep;Delay is ripening the kiss;The rising tear we will not weepUntil it flow for bliss.
Words in this poem
- aching a.
- That aches; continuously painful. See Ache.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song of the Waiting Dead 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, Song of the Waiting Dead, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/song-of-the-waiting-dead.html, id L22306.
Form and metre
Song of the Waiting Dead is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%).
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 ABABCDCD fearingA · lackB · nearingA · backB · dumbC · sighD · comeC · nighD
- 2 ABABCDCD sorrowA · wayB · morrowA · dayB · asleepC · kissD · weepC · blissD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| With us there is no gray fearing, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| With us no aching for lack! | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| For the morn it is always nearing, | 9 | ·····/·/˘ |
| And the night is at our back. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| At times a song will fall dumb, | 7 | ······· |
| A thought-bell burst in a sigh, | 7 | ······· |
| But no one says, "He will not come!" | 8 | ········ |
| She says, "He is almost nigh!" | 7 | ····/·· |
| The thing you call a sorrow | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Is our delight on its way: | 8 | ·/˘˘/··· |
| We know that the coming morrow | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Comes on the wheels of to-day! | 7 | ······· |
| Our Past is a child asleep; | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| Delay is ripening the kiss; | 8 | ˘/·/˘˘·· |
| The rising tear we will not weep | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Until it flow for bliss. | 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.