Up in the Tree
What would you see, if I took you upMy little aerie-stair?You would see the sky like a clear blue cupTurned upside down in the air.
What would you do, up my aerie-stairIn my little nest on the tree?With cry upon cry you would ripple the airTo get at what you would see.
And what would you reach in the top of the treeTo still your grasping grief?Not a star would you clutch of all you would see,You would gather just one green leaf.
But when you had lost your greedy grief,Content to see from afar,Your hand it would hold a withering leaf,But your heart a shining star.
Words in this poem
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- withering a.
- Tending to wither; causing to shrink or fade.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Up in the Tree 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, Up in the Tree, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/up-in-the-tree.html, id L22344.
Form and metre
Up in the Tree is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%).
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 ABAB upA · stairB · cupA · airB
- 2 ABAB stairA · treeB · airA · seeB
- 3 ABAB treeA · griefB · seeA · leafB
- 4 ABAB griefA · afarB · leafA · starB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| What would you see, if I took you up | 9 | ········· |
| My little aerie-stair? | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| You would see the sky like a clear blue cup | 10 | ·········· |
| Turned upside down in the air. | 7 | ·//···· |
| What would you do, up my aerie-stair | 9 | ······/˘· |
| In my little nest on the tree? | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| With cry upon cry you would ripple the air | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| To get at what you would see. | 7 | ······· |
| And what would you reach in the top of the tree | 11 | ··········· |
| To still your grasping grief? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Not a star would you clutch of all you would see, | 11 | ··········· |
| You would gather just one green leaf. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| But when you had lost your greedy grief, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Content to see from afar, | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Your hand it would hold a withering leaf, | 10 | ······/˘˘· |
| But your heart a shining star. | 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.