The Asthmatic Man to the Satan That Binds Him
Satan, avaunt!Nay, take thine hour,Thou canst not daunt,Thou hast no power;Be welcome to thy nest,Though it be in my breast.
Burrow amain;Dig like a mole;Fill every veinWith half-burnt coal;Puff the keen dust about,And all to choke me out.
Fill music's waysWith creaking cries,That no loud praiseMay climb the skies;And on my labouring chestLay mountains of unrest.
My slumber steepIn dreams of haste,That only sleep,No rest, I taste--With stiflings, rimes of rote,And fingers on my throat.
Satan, thy mightI do defy;Live core of nightI patient lie:A wind comes up the grayWill blow thee clean away.
Christ's angel, Death,All radiant white,With one cold breathWill scare thee quite,And give my lungs an airAs fresh as answered prayer.
So, Satan, doThy worst with meUntil the TrueShall set me free,And end what he began,By making me a man.
Words in this poem
- avaunt v. t.
- To advance; to move forward; to elevate.
- daunt v. t.
- To overcome; to conquer. [OF. danter, F. dompter to tame, subdue, fr. L. domitare, v. intens. of domare to tame. See Tame.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- amain adv.
- With might; with full force; vigorously; violently; exceedingly. [Pref. a- + main. See 2d Main, n.]
- labouring a.
- That labors; performing labor; esp., performing coarse, heavy work, not requiring skill also, set apart for labor; as, laboring days.
- unrest n.
- Want of rest or repose; unquietness; sleeplessness; uneasiness; disquietude.
- rote v. t.
- To learn or repeat by rote.
- defy v. t.
- To renounce or dissolve all bonds of affiance, faith, or obligation with; to reject, refuse, or renounce. [F. défier, OF. deffier, desfier, LL. disfidare to disown faith or fidelity, to dissolve the bond of allegiance, as between the vassal and his lord; hence, to ch]
- scare v. t.
- To frighten; to strike with sudden fear; to alarm. [OE. skerren, skeren, Icel. skirra to bar, prevent, skirrask to shun , shrink from; or fr. OE. skerre, adj., scared, Icel. skjarr; both perhaps akin to E. sheer ]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Asthmatic Man to the Satan That Binds Him 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, The Asthmatic Man to the Satan That Binds Him, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/the-asthmatic-man-to-the-satan-that-binds-him.html, id L22496.
Form and metre
The Asthmatic Man to the Satan That Binds Him is 42 lines in 7 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in iambic dimeter.
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 ABABCC avauntA · hourB · dauntA · powerB · nestC · breastC
- 2 ABABCC amainA · moleB · veinA · coalB · aboutC · outC
- 3 ABABCC waysA · criesB · praiseA · skiesB · chestC · unrestC
- 4 ABABCC steepA · hasteB · sleepA · tasteB · roteC · throatC
- 5 ABABCC mightA · defyB · nightA · lieB · grayC · awayC
- 6 ABABCC deathA · whiteB · breathA · quiteB · airC · prayerC
- 7 ABABCC doA · meB · trueA · freeB · beganC · manC
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 dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Satan, avaunt! | 4 | /˘˘/ |
| Nay, take thine hour, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Thou canst not daunt, | 4 | ···· |
| Thou hast no power; | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Be welcome to thy nest, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Though it be in my breast. | 6 | ······ |
| Burrow amain; | 4 | /˘˘/ |
| Dig like a mole; | 4 | ···· |
| Fill every vein | 4 | ·/˘· |
| With half-burnt coal; | 4 | ···· |
| Puff the keen dust about, | 6 | ······ |
| And all to choke me out. | 6 | ······ |
| Fill music's ways | 4 | ·/˘· |
| With creaking cries, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| That no loud praise | 4 | ···· |
| May climb the skies; | 4 | ···· |
| And on my labouring chest | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Lay mountains of unrest. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| My slumber steep | 4 | ·/˘· |
| In dreams of haste, | 4 | ···· |
| That only sleep, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| No rest, I taste-- | 4 | ···· |
| With stiflings, rimes of rote, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And fingers on my throat. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Satan, thy might | 4 | /˘·· |
| I do defy; | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Live core of night | 4 | ···· |
| I patient lie: | 4 | ·/˘· |
| A wind comes up the gray | 6 | ······ |
| Will blow thee clean away. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Christ's angel, Death, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| All radiant white, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| With one cold breath | 4 | ···· |
| Will scare thee quite, | 4 | ···· |
| And give my lungs an air | 6 | ······ |
| As fresh as answered prayer. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| So, Satan, do | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Thy worst with me | 4 | ···· |
| Until the True | 4 | ···· |
| Shall set me free, | 4 | ···· |
| And end what he began, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| By making me a man. | 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.