The Sangreal I
Through the wood the sunny dayGlimmered sweetly glad;Through the wood his weary wayRode sir Galahad.
All about stood open porch,Long-drawn cloister dim;'Twas a wavering wandering churchEvery side of him.
On through columns arching high,Foliage-vaulted, heRode in thirst that made him sigh,Longing miserably.
Came the moon, and through the treesGlimmered faintly sad;Withered, worn, and ill at easeDown lay Galahad;
Closed his eyes and took no heedWhat might come or pass;Heard his hunger-busy steedCropping dewy grass.
Cool and juicy was the blade,Good to him as wine:For his labour he was paid,Galahad must pine!
Late had he at Arthur's board,Arthur strong and wise,Pledged the cup with friendly lord,Looked in ladies' eyes;
Now, alas! he wandered wide,Resting never more,Over lake and mountain-side,Over sea and shore!
Swift in vision rose and fledAll he might have had;Weary tossed his restless head,And his heart grew sad.
With the lowliest in the landHe a maiden fairMight have led with virgin handFrom the altar-stair:
Youth away with strength would glide,Age bring frost and woe;Through the world so dreary wideMateless he must go!
Lost was life and all its good,Gone without avail!All his labour never wouldFind the Holy Grail!
Words in this poem
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- miserably adv.
- In a miserable; unhappily; calamitously; wretchedly; meanly.
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- mateless a.
- Having no mate. [Cf. Matchless.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Sangreal 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 Sangreal 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-sangreal-i.html, id L22267.
Form and metre
The Sangreal I is 48 lines in 12 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 10 of its 12 stanzas. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
See other poems in trochaic trimeter.
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 dayA · gladB · wayA · galahadB
- 2 -A-A porch · dimA · church · himA
- 3 AAA- highA · heA · sighA · miserably
- 4 ABAB treesA · sadB · easeA · galahadB
- 5 ABAB heedA · passB · steedA · grassB
- 6 ABAB bladeA · wineB · paidA · pineB
- 7 ABAB boardA · wiseB · lordA · eyesB
- 8 ABAB wideA · moreB · sideA · shoreB
- 9 ABAB fledA · hadB · headA · sadB
- 10 ABAB landA · fairB · handA · stairB
- 11 ABAB glideA · woeB · wideA · goB
- 12 ABAB goodA · availB · wouldA · grailB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Through the wood the sunny day | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Glimmered sweetly glad; | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| Through the wood his weary way | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Rode sir Galahad. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| All about stood open porch, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Long-drawn cloister dim; | 5 | ··/˘· |
| 'Twas a wavering wandering church | 9 | ··/˘˘/˘˘· |
| Every side of him. | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| On through columns arching high, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Foliage-vaulted, he | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| Rode in thirst that made him sigh, | 7 | ······· |
| Longing miserably. | 6 | /˘/˘˘˘ |
| Came the moon, and through the trees | 7 | ······· |
| Glimmered faintly sad; | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| Withered, worn, and ill at ease | 7 | /˘····· |
| Down lay Galahad; | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Closed his eyes and took no heed | 7 | ······· |
| What might come or pass; | 5 | ····· |
| Heard his hunger-busy steed | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Cropping dewy grass. | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| Cool and juicy was the blade, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Good to him as wine: | 5 | ····· |
| For his labour he was paid, | 7 | ··/···· |
| Galahad must pine! | 5 | /˘··· |
| Late had he at Arthur's board, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Arthur strong and wise, | 5 | /˘··· |
| Pledged the cup with friendly lord, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Looked in ladies' eyes; | 5 | ··/·· |
| Now, alas! he wandered wide, | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Resting never more, | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| Over lake and mountain-side, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Over sea and shore! | 5 | ····· |
| Swift in vision rose and fled | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| All he might have had; | 5 | ····· |
| Weary tossed his restless head, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| And his heart grew sad. | 5 | ····· |
| With the lowliest in the land | 7 | ······· |
| He a maiden fair | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Might have led with virgin hand | 7 | ····/˘· |
| From the altar-stair: | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Youth away with strength would glide, | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Age bring frost and woe; | 5 | ····· |
| Through the world so dreary wide | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Mateless he must go! | 5 | /˘··· |
| Lost was life and all its good, | 7 | ······· |
| Gone without avail! | 5 | ···˘/ |
| All his labour never would | 7 | ··/·/˘· |
| Find the Holy Grail! | 5 | ··/˘· |
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.