The Thorn in the Flesh
Within my heart a worm had long been hid.I knew it not when I went down and chidBecause some servants of my inner houseHad not, I found, of late been doing well,But then I spied the horror hideousDwelling defiant in the inmost cell--No, not the inmost, for there God did dwell!But the small monster, softly burrowing,Near by God's chamber had made itself a den,And lay in it and grew, the noisome thing!Aghast I prayed--'twas time I did pray then!But as I prayed it seemed the loathsome shapeGrew livelier, and did so gnaw and scrapeThat I grew faint. Whereon to me he said--Some one, that is, who held my swimming head,"Lo, I am with thee: let him do his worst;The creature is, but not his work, accurst;Thou hating him, he is as a thing dead."Then I lay still, nor thought, only endured.At last I said, "Lo, now I am inuredA burgess of Pain's town!" The pain grew worse.Then I cried out as if my heart would break.But he, whom, in the fretting, sickening ache,I had forgotten, spoke: "The law of the universeIs this," he said: "Weakness shall be the nurseOf strength. The help I had will serve thee too."So I took courage and did bear anew.At last, through bones and flesh and shrinking skin,Lo, the thing ate his way, and light came in,And the thing died. I knew then what it meant,And, turning, saw the Lord on whom I leant.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- defiant a.
- Full of defiance; bold; insolent; as, a defiant spirit or act. [Cf. F. défiant, p. pr. of défier. See Defy.]
- inmost a.
- Deepest within; farthest from the surface or external part; innermost. [OE. innemest, AS. innemest, a double superlative form fr. inne within, fr. in in. The modern form is due to confusion with most. See In, and cf. Aftermost, Fore]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- noisome a.
- Noxious to health; hurtful; mischievous; unwholesome; insalubrious; destructive; as, noisome effluvia. [For noysome, fr. noy for annoy. See Annoy.]
- whereon adv.
- On which; -- used relatively; as, the earth whereon we live.
- accurst p. p.
- Doomed to destruction or misery; cursed; hence, bad enough to be under the curse; execrable; detestable; exceedingly hateful; -- as, an accursed deed.
- burgess n.
- An inhabitant of a borough or walled town, or one who possesses a tenement therein; a citizen or freeman of a borough. Blackstone. [OE. burgeis, OF. burgeis, fr. burcfortified town, town, F. bourg village, fr. LL. burgus fort, city; from the German; cf. MHG. burc, G. burg. See 1st Borough, a]
- sickening a.
- Causing sickness; specif., causing surfeit or disgust; nauseating.
- ache n.
- A name given to several species of plants; as, smallage, wild celery, parsley. Holland. [F. ache, L. apium parsley.]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Thorn in the Flesh 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 Thorn in the Flesh, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/the-thorn-in-the-flesh.html, id L22290.
Form and metre
The Thorn in the Flesh is 31 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 58% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 --ABABBCDCDEEFFGGFHHIJJIIKKLLMM hid · chid · houseA · wellB · hideousA · cellB · dwellB · burrowingC · denD · thingC · thenD · shapeE · scrapeE · saidF · headF · worstG · accurstG · deadF · enduredH · inuredH · worseI · breakJ · acheJ · universeI · nurseI · tooK · anewK · skinL · inL · meantM · leantM
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 iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Within my heart a worm had long been hid. | 10 | ·········· |
| I knew it not when I went down and chid | 10 | ·········· |
| Because some servants of my inner house | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Had not, I found, of late been doing well, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But then I spied the horror hideous | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Dwelling defiant in the inmost cell-- | 10 | /˘˘/˘··/˘· |
| No, not the inmost, for there God did dwell! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| But the small monster, softly burrowing, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Near by God's chamber had made itself a den, | 11 | ···/˘··˘/·· |
| And lay in it and grew, the noisome thing! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Aghast I prayed--'twas time I did pray then! | 10 | ˘/········ |
| But as I prayed it seemed the loathsome shape | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Grew livelier, and did so gnaw and scrape | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| That I grew faint. Whereon to me he said-- | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Some one, that is, who held my swimming head, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| "Lo, I am with thee: let him do his worst; | 10 | ·········· |
| The creature is, but not his work, accurst; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Thou hating him, he is as a thing dead." | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Then I lay still, nor thought, only endured. | 10 | ······/˘˘/ |
| At last I said, "Lo, now I am inured | 10 | ········˘/ |
| A burgess of Pain's town!" The pain grew worse. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Then I cried out as if my heart would break. | 10 | ·········· |
| But he, whom, in the fretting, sickening ache, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| I had forgotten, spoke: "The law of the universe | 13 | ··˘/˘·····/˘· |
| Is this," he said: "Weakness shall be the nurse | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Of strength. The help I had will serve thee too." | 10 | ·········· |
| So I took courage and did bear anew. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| At last, through bones and flesh and shrinking skin, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Lo, the thing ate his way, and light came in, | 10 | ·········· |
| And the thing died. I knew then what it meant, | 10 | ·········· |
| And, turning, saw the Lord on whom I leant. | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
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.