The Journey III
Hills retreating on each handSlowly sink into the plain;Solemn through the outspread landRolls the river to the main.In the glooming of the nightSomething through the dusky airDoubtful glimmers, faintly white,But I know not what or where.
Is it but a chalky ridgeBared of sod, like tree of bark?Or a river-spanning bridgeMiles away into the dark?Or the foremost leaping wavesOf the everlasting sea,Where the Undivided lavesTime with its eternity?
Is it but an eye-made sight,In my brain a fancied gleam?Or a faint aurora-lightFrom the sun's tired smoking team?In the darkness it is gone,Yet with every step draws nigh;Known shall be the thing unknownWhen the morning climbs the sky!
Onward, onward through the nightMatters it I cannot see?I am moving in a mightDwelling in the dark and me!End or way I cannot lose--Grudge to rest, or fear to roam;All is well with wanderer whoseHeart is travelling hourly home.
Words in this poem
- outspread v. t.
- To spread out; to expand; -- usually as a past part. or adj.
- glooming n.
- Twilight (of morning or evening); the gloaming. [Cf. Gloaming.]
- aurora n.
- The rising light of the morning; the dawn of day; the redness of the sky just before the sun rises. [L. aurora, for ausosa, akin to Gr. ushas, and E. east.]
- 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,]
- hourly a.
- Happening or done every hour; occurring hour by hour; frequent; often repeated; renewed hour by hour; continual.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Journey III 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 III, 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-iii.html, id L22255.
Form and metre
The Journey III is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 ABABCDCD handA · plainB · landA · mainB · nightC · airD · whiteC · whereD
- 2 ABABC-C- ridgeA · barkB · bridgeA · darkB · wavesC · sea · lavesC · eternity
- 3 ABAB-C-C sightA · gleamB · lightA · teamB · gone · nighC · unknown · skyC
- 4 ABABCDCD nightA · seeB · mightA · meB · loseC · roamD · whoseC · homeD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hills retreating on each hand | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Slowly sink into the plain; | 7 | /˘····· |
| Solemn through the outspread land | 7 | /˘··˘/· |
| Rolls the river to the main. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| In the glooming of the night | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Something through the dusky air | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Doubtful glimmers, faintly white, | 7 | /˘/˘/˘· |
| But I know not what or where. | 7 | ······· |
| Is it but a chalky ridge | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Bared of sod, like tree of bark? | 7 | ······· |
| Or a river-spanning bridge | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Miles away into the dark? | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Or the foremost leaping waves | 7 | ··/·/˘· |
| Of the everlasting sea, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Where the Undivided laves | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Time with its eternity? | 7 | ···˘/˘˘ |
| Is it but an eye-made sight, | 7 | ······· |
| In my brain a fancied gleam? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Or a faint aurora-light | 7 | ······· |
| From the sun's tired smoking team? | 7 | ···//˘· |
| In the darkness it is gone, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Yet with every step draws nigh; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Known shall be the thing unknown | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| When the morning climbs the sky! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Onward, onward through the night | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Matters it I cannot see? | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| I am moving in a might | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Dwelling in the dark and me! | 7 | /˘····· |
| End or way I cannot lose-- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Grudge to rest, or fear to roam; | 7 | ······· |
| All is well with wanderer whose | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Heart is travelling hourly home. | 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.