When the Storm Was Proudest
When the storm was proudest,And the wind was loudest,I heard the hollow caverns drinking down below;When the stars were bright,And the ground was white,I heard the grasses springing underneath the snow.
Many voices spake--The river to the lake,And the iron-ribbed sky was talking to the sea;And every starry sparkMade music with the dark,And said how bright and beautiful everything must be.
When the sun was setting,All the clouds were gettingBeautiful and silvery in the rising moon;Beneath the leafless treesWrangling in the breeze,I could hardly see them for the leaves of June.
When the day had ended,And the night descended,I heard the sound of streams that I heard not through the day,And every peak afarWas ready for a star,And they climbed and rolled around until the morning gray.
Then slumber soft and holyCame down upon me slowly,And I went I know not whither, and I lived I know not how;My glory had been banished,For when I woke it vanished;But I waited on its coming, and I am waiting now.
Words in this poem
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- 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.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
When the Storm Was Proudest 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, When the Storm Was Proudest, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/when-the-storm-was-proudest.html, id L22441.
Form and metre
When the Storm Was Proudest is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABCCB. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 AABCCB proudestA · loudestA · belowB · brightC · whiteC · snowB
- 2 AABCCB spakeA · lakeA · seaB · sparkC · darkC · beB
- 3 AABCCB settingA · gettingA · moonB · treesC · breezeC · juneB
- 4 AABCCB endedA · descendedA · dayB · afarC · starC · grayB
- 5 AABCCB holyA · slowlyA · howB · banishedC · vanishedC · nowB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When the storm was proudest, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And the wind was loudest, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| I heard the hollow caverns drinking down below; | 12 | ···/˘/˘/˘··· |
| When the stars were bright, | 5 | ····· |
| And the ground was white, | 5 | ····· |
| I heard the grasses springing underneath the snow. | 12 | ···/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Many voices spake-- | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| The river to the lake, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And the iron-ribbed sky was talking to the sea; | 11 | ··/···/˘··· |
| And every starry spark | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| Made music with the dark, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And said how bright and beautiful everything must be. | 12 | ·····/˘/˘··· |
| When the sun was setting, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| All the clouds were getting | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Beautiful and silvery in the rising moon; | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Beneath the leafless trees | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Wrangling in the breeze, | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| I could hardly see them for the leaves of June. | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| When the day had ended, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And the night descended, | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| I heard the sound of streams that I heard not through the day, | 13 | ············· |
| And every peak afar | 7 | ·/˘˘·˘/ |
| Was ready for a star, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And they climbed and rolled around until the morning gray. | 13 | ··········/˘· |
| Then slumber soft and holy | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Came down upon me slowly, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And I went I know not whither, and I lived I know not how; | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| My glory had been banished, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| For when I woke it vanished; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| But I waited on its coming, and I am waiting now. | 14 | ··/˘··/˘···/˘· |
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.