The Failing Track
Where went the feet that hitherto have come?Here yawns no gulf to quench the flowing past!With lengthening pauses broke, the path grows dumb;The grass floats in; the gazer stands aghast.
Tremble not, maiden, though the footprints die;By no air-path ascend the lark's clear notes;The mighty-throated when he mounts the skyOver some lowly landmark sings and floats.
Be of good cheer. Paths vanish from the wave;There all the ships tear each its track of gray;Undaunted they the wandering desert brave:In each a magic finger points the way.
No finger finely touched, no eye of larkHast thou to guide thy steps where footprints fail?Ah, then, 'twere well to turn before the dark,Nor dream to find thy dreams in yonder vale!
The backward way one hour is plain to thee,Hard hap were hers who saw no trace behind!Back to confession at thy mother's knee,Back to the question and the childlike mind!
Then start afresh, but toward unending end,The goal o'er which hangs thy own star all night;So shalt thou need no footprints to befriend,Child-heart and shining star will guide thee right.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- hitherto adv.
- To this place; to a prescribed limit.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- undaunted a.
- Not daunted; not subdued or depressed by fear.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- 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.]
- childlike a.
- Resembling a child, or that which belongs to children; becoming a child; meek; submissive; dutiful.
- afresh adv.
- Anew; again; once more; newly. [Pref. a- + fresh.]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- befriend v. t.
- To act as a friend to; to favor; to aid, benefit, or countenance.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Failing Track 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 Failing Track, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/the-failing-track.html, id L22274.
Form and metre
The Failing Track is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 comeA · pastB · dumbA · aghastB
- 2 ABAB dieA · notesB · skyA · floatsB
- 3 ABAB waveA · grayB · braveA · wayB
- 4 ABAB larkA · failB · darkA · valeB
- 5 ABAB theeA · behindB · kneeA · mindB
- 6 ABAB endA · nightB · befriendA · rightB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Where went the feet that hitherto have come? | 10 | ·····/·/·· |
| Here yawns no gulf to quench the flowing past! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| With lengthening pauses broke, the path grows dumb; | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| The grass floats in; the gazer stands aghast. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Tremble not, maiden, though the footprints die; | 10 | /˘·/˘··/·· |
| By no air-path ascend the lark's clear notes; | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| The mighty-throated when he mounts the sky | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Over some lowly landmark sings and floats. | 10 | ···/˘/···· |
| Be of good cheer. Paths vanish from the wave; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| There all the ships tear each its track of gray; | 10 | ·········· |
| Undaunted they the wandering desert brave: | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| In each a magic finger points the way. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| No finger finely touched, no eye of lark | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Hast thou to guide thy steps where footprints fail? | 10 | ·······/·· |
| Ah, then, 'twere well to turn before the dark, | 10 | ·········· |
| Nor dream to find thy dreams in yonder vale! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The backward way one hour is plain to thee, | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| Hard hap were hers who saw no trace behind! | 10 | ·········· |
| Back to confession at thy mother's knee, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Back to the question and the childlike mind! | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| Then start afresh, but toward unending end, | 11 | ··˘/···˘/˘· |
| The goal o'er which hangs thy own star all night; | 10 | ·········· |
| So shalt thou need no footprints to befriend, | 10 | ·····/··˘/ |
| Child-heart and shining star will guide thee right. | 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.