Laurel · George MacDonald · A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems

The Tree's Prayer

George MacDonald (1824–1905) · 1893

iambic tetrameter · ABBA · 36 lines · from A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems

Alas, 'tis cold and dark!The wind all night hath sung a wintry tune!Hail from black clouds that swallowed up the moonBeat, beat against my bark.

Oh! why delays the spring?Not yet the sap moves in my frozen veins;Through all my stiffened roots creep numbing pains,That I can hardly cling.

The sun shone yester-morn;I felt the glow down every fibre float,And thought I heard a thrush's piping noteOf dim dream-gladness born.

Then, on the salt gale driven,The streaming cloud hissed through my outstretched arms,Tossed me about in slanting snowy swarms,And blotted out the heaven.

All night I brood and chooseAmong past joys. Oh, for the breath of June!The feathery light-flakes quavering from the moonThe slow baptizing dews!

Oh, the joy-frantic birds!--They are the tongues of us, mute, longing trees!Aha, the billowy odours! and the beesThat browse like scattered herds!

The comfort-whispering showersThat thrill with gratefulness my youngest shoot!The children playing round my deep-sunk root,Green-caved from burning hours!

See, see the heartless dawn,With naked, chilly arms latticed across!Another weary day of moaning lossOn the thin-shadowed lawn!

But icy winter's past;Yea, climbing suns persuade the relenting wind:I will endure with steadfast, patient mind;My leaves will come at last!

Words in this poem

wintry a.: Suitable to winter; resembling winter, or what belongs to winter; brumal; hyemal; cold; stormy; wintery. [AS. wintrig.]
morn n.: The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
fibre n.: One of the delicate, threadlike portions of which the tissues of plants and animals are in part constituted; as, the fiber of flax or of muscle. [F. fibre, L. fibra.]
piping a.: Playing on a musical pipe. [From Pipe, v.]
streaming a.: Sending forth streams.
snowy a.: White like snow.
billowy a.: Of or pertaining to billows; swelling or swollen into large waves; full of billows or surges; resembling billows.
heartless a.: Without a heart.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Tree's Prayer 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 Tree's Prayer, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/the-tree-s-prayer.html, id L22257.

Form and metre

The Tree's Prayer is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBA, complete in 8 of its 9 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.

See other poems in iambic 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 ABBA dark^A · tune^B · moon^B · bark^A
2 ABBA spring^A · veins^B · pains^B · cling^A
3 ABBA morn^A · float^B · note^B · born^A
5 ABBA choose^A · june^B · moon^B · dews^A
6 ABBA birds^A · trees^B · bees^B · herds^A
7 ABBA showers^A · shoot^B · root^B · hours^A
8 ABBA dawn^A · across^B · loss^B · lawn^A
9 ABBA past^A · wind^B · mind^B · last^A

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 tetrameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
Alas, 'tis cold and dark!	6	˘/····
The wind all night hath sung a wintry tune!	10	·······/˘·
Hail from black clouds that swallowed up the moon	10	·····/˘···
Beat, beat against my bark.	6	······
Oh! why delays the spring?	6	··˘/··
Not yet the sap moves in my frozen veins;	10	·······/˘·
Through all my stiffened roots creep numbing pains,	10	···/˘··/˘·
That I can hardly cling.	6	···/˘·
The sun shone yester-morn;	6	···/˘·
I felt the glow down every fibre float,	10	·····/˘/˘·
And thought I heard a thrush's piping note	10	·····/˘/˘·
Of dim dream-gladness born.	6	···/˘·
Then, on the salt gale driven,	7	·····/˘
The streaming cloud hissed through my outstretched arms,	10	·/˘····˘/·
Tossed me about in slanting snowy swarms,	10	·····/˘/˘·
And blotted out the heaven.	7	·/˘··/˘
All night I brood and choose	6	······
Among past joys. Oh, for the breath of June!	10	··········
The feathery light-flakes quavering from the moon	10	·/˘··/˘···
The slow baptizing dews!	6	··˘/˘·
Oh, the joy-frantic birds!--	6	···/˘·
They are the tongues of us, mute, longing trees!	10	·······/˘·
Aha, the billowy odours! and the bees	11	·/·/˘˘/˘···
That browse like scattered herds!	6	···/˘·
The comfort-whispering showers	8	·/˘/˘˘/˘
That thrill with gratefulness my youngest shoot!	11	········/˘·
The children playing round my deep-sunk root,	10	·/˘/˘·····
Green-caved from burning hours!	7	···/˘/˘
See, see the heartless dawn,	6	···/˘·
With naked, chilly arms latticed across!	10	·/˘/˘·/˘˘/
Another weary day of moaning loss	10	˘/˘/˘··/˘·
On the thin-shadowed lawn!	6	···/˘·
But icy winter's past;	6	·/˘/˘·
Yea, climbing suns persuade the relenting wind:	11	·/˘·˘/·˘/˘·
I will endure with steadfast, patient mind;	10	··˘/·/·/˘·
My leaves will come at last!	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.

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