The Prism I
A pool of broken sunbeams layUpon the passage-floor,Radiant and rich, profound and gayAs ever diamond bore.
Small, flitting hands a handkerchiefSpread like a cunning trap:Prone lay the gorgeous jewel-sheafIn the glory-gleaner's lap!
Deftly she folded up the prize,With lovely avarice;Like one whom having had made wise,She bore it off in bliss.
But ah, when for her prisoned gemsShe peeped, to prove them there,No glories broken from their stemsLay in the kerchief bare!
For still, outside the nursery door,The bright persistency,A molten diadem on the floor,Lay burning wondrously.
Words in this poem
- flitting n.
- A flying with lightness and celerity; a fluttering.
- gorgeous a.
- Imposing through splendid or various colors; showy; fine; magnificent. [OF. gorgias beautiful, glorious, vain, luxurious; cf. OF. gorgias ruff, neck handkerchief, and F. gorge throat, and se pengorger to assume airs. Cf. Gorge, n.]
- deftly adv.
- Aptly; fitly; dexterously; neatly. [Cf. Defly.]
- avarice n.
- An excessive or inordinate desire of gain; greediness after wealth; covetousness; cupidity. [F. avaritia, fr. avarus avaricious, prob. fr. av to covert, fr. a root av to satiate one's self: cf. Gr. av to satiate one's self, rejoice, protect.]
- nursery n.
- The act of nursing. [Cf. F. nourricerie.]
- persistency n.
- The quality or state of being persistent; staying or continuing quality; hence, in an unfavorable sense, doggedness; obstinacy. [See Persistent.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Prism I 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 Prism I, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/the-prism-i.html, id L22409.
Form and metre
The Prism I is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 layA · floorB · gayA · boreB
- 2 ABAB handkerchiefA · trapB · sheafA · lapB
- 3 ABAB prizeA · avariceB · wiseA · blissB
- 4 ABAB gemsA · thereB · stemsA · bareB
- 5 A-A- doorA · persistency · floorA · wondrously
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A pool of broken sunbeams lay | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| Upon the passage-floor, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Radiant and rich, profound and gay | 9 | /˘˘··˘/·· |
| As ever diamond bore. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Small, flitting hands a handkerchief | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Spread like a cunning trap: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Prone lay the gorgeous jewel-sheaf | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| In the glory-gleaner's lap! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Deftly she folded up the prize, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| With lovely avarice; | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| Like one whom having had made wise, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| She bore it off in bliss. | 6 | ······ |
| But ah, when for her prisoned gems | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| She peeped, to prove them there, | 6 | ······ |
| No glories broken from their stems | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Lay in the kerchief bare! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| For still, outside the nursery door, | 9 | ··//·/˘˘· |
| The bright persistency, | 6 | ······ |
| A molten diadem on the floor, | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| Lay burning wondrously. | 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.