The Sangreal VII
Very still was earth and skyWhen he passing lay;Oft he said he should not die,Would but go away.
When he passed, they reverent sought,Where his hand lay prest,For the cup he bare, they thought,Hidden in his breast.
Hope and haste and eager thrillTurned to sorrowing wail:Hid he held it deeper still,Took with him the Grail.
Words in this poem
- prest a.
- Ready; prompt; prepared. [OF. prest, F. prêt, fr. L. praestus ready. Cf. Presto.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Sangreal VII 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 VII, 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-vii.html, id L22273.
Form and metre
The Sangreal VII is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 skyA · layB · dieA · awayB
- 2 ABAB soughtA · prestB · thoughtA · breastB
- 3 ABAB thrillA · wailB · stillA · 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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Very still was earth and sky | 7 | /˘····· |
| When he passing lay; | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Oft he said he should not die, | 7 | ······· |
| Would but go away. | 5 | ···˘/ |
| When he passed, they reverent sought, | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| Where his hand lay prest, | 5 | ····· |
| For the cup he bare, they thought, | 7 | ······· |
| Hidden in his breast. | 5 | /˘··· |
| Hope and haste and eager thrill | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Turned to sorrowing wail: | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| Hid he held it deeper still, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Took with him the 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.