The Journey II
Mountain summits lift their snowsO'er a valley green and low;And a winding pathway goesGuided by the river's flow;And a music rises ever,As of peace and low content,From the pebble-paven riverLike an odour upward sent.
And the sound of ancient harmsMoans behind, the hills among,Like the humming of the swarmsThat unseen the forest throng.Now I meet the shining rainFrom a cloud with sunny weft;Now against the wind I strain,Sudden burst from mountain cleft.
Now a sky that hath a moonStaining all the cloudy whiteWith a faded rainbow--soonLost in deeps of heavenly night!Now a morning clear and soft,Amber on the purple hills;Warm blue day of summer, oftCooled by wandering windy rills!
Joy to travel thus alongWith the universe around!Every creature of the throng,Every sight and scent and soundHomeward speeding, beauty-laden,Beelike, to its hive, my soul!Mine the eye the stars are made in!Mine the heart of Nature's whole!
Words in this poem
- pathway n.
- A footpath; a beaten track; any path or course. Also used figuratively.
- odour n.
- Any smell, whether fragrant or offensive; scent; perfume. [OE. odor, odour, OF. odor, odour, F. odeur, fr. L. odor; akin to olere to smell, Gr. Olfactory, Osmium, Ozone, Redolent.]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- homeward a.
- Being in the direction of home; as, the homeward way.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Journey II 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 Journey II, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/the-journey-ii.html, id L22254.
Form and metre
The Journey II is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABAB-C-C snowsA · lowB · goesA · flowB · ever · contentC · river · sentC
- 2 ----ABAB harms · among · swarms · throng · rainA · weftB · strainA · cleftB
- 3 ABABCDCD moonA · whiteB · soonA · nightB · softC · hillsD · oftC · rillsD
- 4 ABAB-C-C alongA · aroundB · throngA · soundB · laden · soulC · in · wholeC
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain summits lift their snows | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| O'er a valley green and low; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And a winding pathway goes | 7 | ··/˘/·· |
| Guided by the river's flow; | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| And a music rises ever, | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| As of peace and low content, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| From the pebble-paven river | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Like an odour upward sent. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| And the sound of ancient harms | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Moans behind, the hills among, | 7 | ······· |
| Like the humming of the swarms | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| That unseen the forest throng. | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Now I meet the shining rain | 7 | ····/˘· |
| From a cloud with sunny weft; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Now against the wind I strain, | 7 | ······· |
| Sudden burst from mountain cleft. | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Now a sky that hath a moon | 7 | ······· |
| Staining all the cloudy white | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| With a faded rainbow--soon | 7 | ··/˘/·· |
| Lost in deeps of heavenly night! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Now a morning clear and soft, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Amber on the purple hills; | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Warm blue day of summer, oft | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Cooled by wandering windy rills! | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Joy to travel thus along | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| With the universe around! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Every creature of the throng, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Every sight and scent and sound | 7 | /˘····· |
| Homeward speeding, beauty-laden, | 8 | /˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Beelike, to its hive, my soul! | 7 | ······· |
| Mine the eye the stars are made in! | 8 | ········ |
| Mine the heart of Nature's whole! | 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.