Willie's Question I
Is it wrong, the wish to be great,For I do wish it so?I have asked already my sister Kate;She says she does not know.
Yestereve at the gate I stoodWatching the sun in the west;When I saw him look so grand and goodIt swelled up in my breast.
Next from the rising moonIt stole like a silver dart;In the night when the wind began his tuneIt woke with a sudden start.
This morning a trumpet blastMade all the cottage quake;It came so sudden and shook so fastIt blew me wide awake.
It told me I must make haste,And some great glory win,For every day was running to waste,And at once I must begin.
I want to be great and strong,I want to begin to-day;But if you think it very wrongI will send the wish away.
Words in this poem
- kate n.
- The brambling finch.
- yestereve n.
- The evening of yesterday; the evening last past.
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Willie's Question I 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, Willie's Question I, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/willie-s-question-i.html, id L22348.
Form and metre
Willie's Question I is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
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 ABAB greatA · soB · kateA · knowB
- 2 ABAB stoodA · westB · goodA · breastB
- 3 ABAB moonA · dartB · tuneA · startB
- 4 ABAB blastA · quakeB · fastA · awakeB
- 5 ABAB hasteA · winB · wasteA · beginB
- 6 ABAB strongA · dayB · wrongA · awayB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Is it wrong, the wish to be great, | 8 | ········ |
| For I do wish it so? | 6 | ······ |
| I have asked already my sister Kate; | 10 | ···˘/˘·/˘· |
| She says she does not know. | 6 | ······ |
| Yestereve at the gate I stood | 8 | ········ |
| Watching the sun in the west; | 7 | /˘····· |
| When I saw him look so grand and good | 9 | ········· |
| It swelled up in my breast. | 6 | ······ |
| Next from the rising moon | 6 | ···/˘· |
| It stole like a silver dart; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| In the night when the wind began his tune | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| It woke with a sudden start. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| This morning a trumpet blast | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| Made all the cottage quake; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| It came so sudden and shook so fast | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| It blew me wide awake. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| It told me I must make haste, | 7 | ······· |
| And some great glory win, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| For every day was running to waste, | 10 | ·/˘˘··/˘·· |
| And at once I must begin. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| I want to be great and strong, | 7 | ······· |
| I want to begin to-day; | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| But if you think it very wrong | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I will send the wish away. | 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.