To the Clouds
Through the unchanging heaven, as ye have sped,Speed onward still, a strange wild company,Fleet children of the waters! Glorious ye,Whether the sun lift up his shining head,High throned at noontide and establishedAmong the shifting pillars, or we seeThe sable ghosts of air sleep mournfullyAgainst the sunlight, passionless and dead!Take thus a glory, oh thou higher Sun,From all the cloudy labour of man's hand--Whether the quickening nations rise and run,Or in the market-place we idly standCasting huge shadows over these thy plains--Even thence, O God, draw thy rich gifts of rains.
Words in this poem
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- noontide n.
- The time of noon; midday. [From noon + tide time; cf. AS. n the ninth hour.]
- sable n.
- A carnivorous animal of the Weasel family (Mustela zibellina) native of the northern latitudes of Europe, Asia, and America, -- noted for its fine, soft, and valuable fur. [OF. sable, F. zibeline sable (in sense 4), LL. sabellum; cf. D. sabel, Dan. sabel, zobel, Sw. sabel, sobel, G. zobel; all fr. Russ. sóbole.]
- passionless a.
- Void of passion; without anger or emotion; not easily excited; calm.
- quickening n.
- The act or process of making or of becoming quick.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the Clouds 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, To the Clouds, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/to-the-clouds.html, id L22443.
Form and metre
To the Clouds is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See 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 A-BA-B-ACDCDEE spedA · company · yeB · headA · established · seeB · mournfully · deadA · sunC · handD · runC · standD · plainsE · rainsE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Through the unchanging heaven, as ye have sped, | 10 | ··˘/˘/···· |
| Speed onward still, a strange wild company, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| Fleet children of the waters! Glorious ye, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Whether the sun lift up his shining head, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| High throned at noontide and established | 10 | ··˘·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Among the shifting pillars, or we see | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| The sable ghosts of air sleep mournfully | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Against the sunlight, passionless and dead! | 10 | ···/·/˘˘·· |
| Take thus a glory, oh thou higher Sun, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| From all the cloudy labour of man's hand-- | 10 | ···/˘/···· |
| Whether the quickening nations rise and run, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Or in the market-place we idly stand | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Casting huge shadows over these thy plains-- | 10 | /˘·/······ |
| Even thence, O God, draw thy rich gifts of rains. | 10 | /········· |
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.