Tell Me
"Traveller, what lies over the hill?Traveller, tell to me:Tip-toe-high on the window-sillOver I cannot see."
"My child, a valley green lies there,Lovely with trees, and shy;And a tiny brook that says, 'Take care,Or I'll drown you by and by!'"
"And what comes next?"--"A little town,And a towering hill again;More hills and valleys up and down,And a river now and then."
"And what comes next?"--"A lonely moorWithout one beaten way,And slow clouds drifting dull beforeA wind that will not stay."
"And then?"--"Dark rocks and yellow sand,Blue sea and a moaning tide.""And then?"--"More sea, and then more land,With rivers deep and wide."
"And then?"--"Oh, rock and mountain and vale,Ocean and shores and men,Over and over, a weary tale,And round to your home again!"
"And is that all? From day to day,Like one with a long chain bound,Should I walk and walk and not get away,But go always round and round?"
"No, no; I have not told you the best,I have not told you the end:If you want to escape, away in the westYou will see a stair ascend,
"Built of all colours of lovely stones,A stair up into the skyWhere no one is weary, and no one moans,Or wishes to be laid by."
"Is it far away?"--"I do not know:You must fix your eyes thereon,And travel, travel through thunder and snow,Till the weary way is gone.
"All day, though you never see it shine,You must travel nor turn aside,All night you must keep as straight a lineThrough moonbeams or darkness wide."
"When I am older!"--"Nay, not so!""I have hardly opened my eyes!""He who to the old sunset would go,Starts best with the young sunrise."
"Is the stair right up? is it very steep?""Too steep for you to climb;You must lie at the foot of the glorious heapAnd patient wait your time."
"How long?"--"Nay, that I cannot tell.""In wind, and rain, and frost?""It may be so; and it is wellThat you should count the cost.
"Pilgrims from near and from distant landsWill step on you lying there;But a wayfaring man with wounded handsWill carry you up the stair."
Words in this poem
- towering a.
- Very high; elevated; rising aloft; as, a towering height.
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- thereon adv.
- On that or this. [AS. . See There, and On.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- wayfaring a.
- Traveling; passing; being on a journey.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Tell Me 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, Tell Me, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/tell-me.html, id L22275.
Form and metre
Tell Me is 60 lines in 15 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 14 of its 15 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
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 hillA · meB · sillA · seeB
- 2 ABAB thereA · shyB · careA · byB
- 3 ABAB townA · againB · downA · thenB
- 4 -A-A moor · wayA · before · stayA
- 5 ABAB sandA · tideB · landA · wideB
- 6 ABAB valeA · menB · taleA · againB
- 7 ABAB dayA · boundB · awayA · roundB
- 8 ABAB bestA · endB · westA · ascendB
- 9 ABAB stonesA · skyB · moansA · byB
- 10 ABAB knowA · thereonB · snowA · goneB
- 11 ABAB shineA · asideB · lineA · wideB
- 12 ABAB soA · eyesB · goA · sunriseB
- 13 ABAB steepA · climbB · heapA · timeB
- 14 ABAB tellA · frostB · wellA · costB
- 15 ABAB landsA · thereB · handsA · stairB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| "Traveller, what lies over the hill? | 9 | /˘˘······ |
| Traveller, tell to me: | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| Tip-toe-high on the window-sill | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Over I cannot see." | 6 | ···/˘· |
| "My child, a valley green lies there, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Lovely with trees, and shy; | 6 | /˘···· |
| And a tiny brook that says, 'Take care, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Or I'll drown you by and by!'" | 7 | ······· |
| "And what comes next?"--"A little town, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And a towering hill again; | 8 | ··/˘˘·˘/ |
| More hills and valleys up and down, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And a river now and then." | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| "And what comes next?"--"A lonely moor | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Without one beaten way, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And slow clouds drifting dull before | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A wind that will not stay." | 6 | ······ |
| "And then?"--"Dark rocks and yellow sand, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Blue sea and a moaning tide." | 7 | ····/˘· |
| "And then?"--"More sea, and then more land, | 8 | ········ |
| With rivers deep and wide." | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| "And then?"--"Oh, rock and mountain and vale, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Ocean and shores and men, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Over and over, a weary tale, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And round to your home again!" | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| "And is that all? From day to day, | 8 | ········ |
| Like one with a long chain bound, | 7 | ······· |
| Should I walk and walk and not get away, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| But go always round and round?" | 7 | ··/···· |
| "No, no; I have not told you the best, | 9 | ········· |
| I have not told you the end: | 7 | ······· |
| If you want to escape, away in the west | 11 | ····˘/˘/··· |
| You will see a stair ascend, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| "Built of all colours of lovely stones, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| A stair up into the sky | 7 | ······· |
| Where no one is weary, and no one moans, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Or wishes to be laid by." | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| "Is it far away?"--"I do not know: | 9 | ···˘/···· |
| You must fix your eyes thereon, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| And travel, travel through thunder and snow, | 10 | ·/˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Till the weary way is gone. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| "All day, though you never see it shine, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| You must travel nor turn aside, | 8 | ··/˘··˘/ |
| All night you must keep as straight a line | 9 | ········· |
| Through moonbeams or darkness wide." | 7 | ·/··/˘· |
| "When I am older!"--"Nay, not so!" | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "I have hardly opened my eyes!" | 9 | ··/˘/˘˘·· |
| "He who to the old sunset would go, | 9 | ·····/··· |
| Starts best with the young sunrise." | 7 | ·····/· |
| "Is the stair right up? is it very steep?" | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| "Too steep for you to climb; | 6 | ······ |
| You must lie at the foot of the glorious heap | 11 | ········/˘· |
| And patient wait your time." | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| "How long?"--"Nay, that I cannot tell." | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| "In wind, and rain, and frost?" | 6 | ······ |
| "It may be so; and it is well | 8 | ········ |
| That you should count the cost. | 6 | ······ |
| "Pilgrims from near and from distant lands | 9 | /˘····/˘· |
| Will step on you lying there; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| But a wayfaring man with wounded hands | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| Will carry you up the stair." | 7 | ·/˘···· |
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.