They Are Blind
They are blind, and they are dead:We will wake them as we go;There are words have not been said,There are sounds they do not know:We will pipe and we will sing--With the Music and the SpringSet their hearts a wondering!
They are tired of what is old,We will give it voices new;For the half hath not been toldOf the Beautiful and True.Drowsy eyelids shut and sleeping!Heavy eyes oppressed with weeping!Flashes through the lashes leaping!
Ye that have a pleasant voice,Hither come without delay;Ye will never have a choiceLike to that ye have to-day:Round the wide world we will go,Singing through the frost and snowTill the daisies are in blow.
Ye that cannot pipe or sing,Ye must also come with speed;Ye must come, and with you bringWeighty word and weightier deed--Helping hands and loving eyes!These will make them truly wise--Then will be our Paradise.
About this text
They Are Blind 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, They Are Blind, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/they-are-blind.html, id L22440.
Form and metre
They Are Blind is 28 lines in 4 stanzas of 7 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCCC, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 ABABCCC deadA · goB · saidA · knowB · singC · springC · wonderingC
- 2 ABABCCC oldA · newB · toldA · trueB · sleepingC · weepingC · leapingC
- 3 ABABCCC voiceA · delayB · choiceA · dayB · goC · snowC · blowC
- 4 ABABCC- singA · speedB · bringA · deedB · eyesC · wiseC · paradise
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 |
|---|---|---|
| They are blind, and they are dead: | 7 | ······· |
| We will wake them as we go; | 7 | ······· |
| There are words have not been said, | 7 | ······· |
| There are sounds they do not know: | 7 | ······· |
| We will pipe and we will sing-- | 7 | ······· |
| With the Music and the Spring | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Set their hearts a wondering! | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| They are tired of what is old, | 7 | ··/···· |
| We will give it voices new; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| For the half hath not been told | 7 | ······· |
| Of the Beautiful and True. | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| Drowsy eyelids shut and sleeping! | 8 | /˘/···/˘ |
| Heavy eyes oppressed with weeping! | 8 | /˘·˘/·/˘ |
| Flashes through the lashes leaping! | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| Ye that have a pleasant voice, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Hither come without delay; | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Ye will never have a choice | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Like to that ye have to-day: | 7 | ······· |
| Round the wide world we will go, | 7 | ······· |
| Singing through the frost and snow | 7 | /˘····· |
| Till the daisies are in blow. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Ye that cannot pipe or sing, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Ye must also come with speed; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Ye must come, and with you bring | 7 | ······· |
| Weighty word and weightier deed-- | 7 | /˘····· |
| Helping hands and loving eyes! | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| These will make them truly wise-- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Then will be our Paradise. | 7 | ···//˘· |
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.