Willie's Question II
Wrong to wish to be great?No, Willie; it is not wrong:The child who stands at the high closed gateMust wish to be tall and strong!
If you did not wish to growI should be a sorry man;I should think my boy was dull and slow,Nor worthy of his clan.
You are bound to be great, my boy:Wish, and get up, and do.Were you content to be little, my joyWould be little enough in you.Willie speaks.
Papa, papa! I'm so gladThat what I wish is right!I will not lose a chance to be had;I'll begin this very night.
I will work so hard at school!I will waste no time in play;At my fingers' ends I'll have every rule,For knowledge is power, they say.
I would be a king and reign,But I can't be that, and soField-marshal I'll be, I think, and gainSharp battles and sieges slow.
I shall gallop and shout and call,Waving my shining sword:Artillery, cavalry, infantry, allHear and obey my word.
Or admiral I will be,Wherever the salt wave runs,Sailing, fighting over the sea,With flashing and roaring guns.
I will make myself hardy and strong;I will never, never give in.I am so glad it is not wrong!At once I will begin.The Father speaks.
Fighting and shining along,All for the show of the thing!Any puppet will mimic the grand and strongIf you pull the proper string!Willie speaks.
But indeed I want to be great,I should despise mere show;The thing I want is the glory-state--Above the rest, you know!
The Father answers.
The harder you run that race,The farther you tread that track,The greatness you fancy before your faceIs the farther behind your back.
To be up in the heavens afar,Miles above all the rest,Would make a star not the greatest star,Only the dreariest.
That book on the highest shelfIs not the greatest book;If you would be great, it must be in yourself,Neither by place nor look.
The Highest is not highBy being higher than others;To greatness you come not a step more nighBy getting above your brothers.
Words in this poem
- papa n.
- A child's word for father. [F. papa, L. papa; cf. Gr. Pope.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- artillery n.
- Munitions of war; implements for warfare, as slings, bows, and arrows. [OE. artilrie, OF. artillerie, arteillerie, fr. LL. artillaria, artilleria, machines and apparatus of all kinds used in war, vans laden with arms of any kind whi]
- infantry n.
- A body of children. B. Jonson. [F. infanterie, It. infanteria, fr. infante infant, child, boy servant, foot soldier, fr. L. infans, -antis, child; foot soldiers being formerly the servants and]
- wherever adv.
- At or in whatever place; wheresoever.
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Willie's Question II 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 II, 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-ii.html, id L22349.
Form and metre
Willie's Question II is 64 lines in 16 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 11 of its 16 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).
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 · wrongB · gateA · strongB
- 2 ABAB growA · manB · slowA · clanB
- 3 ABAB- boyA · doB · joyA · youB · speaks
- 4 ABAB gladA · rightB · hadA · nightB
- 5 ABAB schoolA · playB · ruleA · sayB
- 6 ABAB reignA · soB · gainA · slowB
- 7 A-A- callA · sword · allA · word
- 8 ABAB beA · runsB · seaA · gunsB
- 9 ABAB- strongA · inB · wrongA · beginB · speaks
- 10 ABAB- alongA · thingB · strongA · stringB · speaks
- 11 ABAB greatA · showB · stateA · knowB
- 13 ABAB raceA · trackB · faceA · backB
- 14 ABAB afarA · restB · starA · dreariestB
- 15 ABAB shelfA · bookB · yourselfA · lookB
- 16 ABAB highA · othersB · nighA · brothersB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Wrong to wish to be great? | 6 | ······ |
| No, Willie; it is not wrong: | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| The child who stands at the high closed gate | 10 | ········˘· |
| Must wish to be tall and strong! | 7 | ······· |
| If you did not wish to grow | 7 | ······· |
| I should be a sorry man; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| I should think my boy was dull and slow, | 9 | ········· |
| Nor worthy of his clan. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| You are bound to be great, my boy: | 8 | ········ |
| Wish, and get up, and do. | 6 | ······ |
| Were you content to be little, my joy | 10 | ··/˘··/˘·· |
| Would be little enough in you. | 8 | ··/˘˘/·· |
| Willie speaks. | 3 | /˘· |
| Papa, papa! I'm so glad | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| That what I wish is right! | 6 | ······ |
| I will not lose a chance to be had; | 9 | ········· |
| I'll begin this very night. | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| I will work so hard at school! | 7 | ······· |
| I will waste no time in play; | 7 | ······· |
| At my fingers' ends I'll have every rule, | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| For knowledge is power, they say. | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| I would be a king and reign, | 7 | ······· |
| But I can't be that, and so | 7 | ······· |
| Field-marshal I'll be, I think, and gain | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Sharp battles and sieges slow. | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| I shall gallop and shout and call, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Waving my shining sword: | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Artillery, cavalry, infantry, all | 10 | ˘/˘/˘˘/˘˘· |
| Hear and obey my word. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Or admiral I will be, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Wherever the salt wave runs, | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| Sailing, fighting over the sea, | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| With flashing and roaring guns. | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| I will make myself hardy and strong; | 9 | ····//˘·· |
| I will never, never give in. | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| I am so glad it is not wrong! | 8 | ········ |
| At once I will begin. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The Father speaks. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Fighting and shining along, | 7 | /˘·/˘˘/ |
| All for the show of the thing! | 7 | ······· |
| Any puppet will mimic the grand and strong | 11 | /˘/˘·/˘···· |
| If you pull the proper string! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Willie speaks. | 3 | /˘· |
| But indeed I want to be great, | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| I should despise mere show; | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| The thing I want is the glory-state-- | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Above the rest, you know! | 6 | ······ |
| The Father answers. | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| The harder you run that race, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| The farther you tread that track, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| The greatness you fancy before your face | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| Is the farther behind your back. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| To be up in the heavens afar, | 9 | ·····/˘˘/ |
| Miles above all the rest, | 6 | ······ |
| Would make a star not the greatest star, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Only the dreariest. | 5 | /˘··· |
| That book on the highest shelf | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Is not the greatest book; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| If you would be great, it must be in yourself, | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| Neither by place nor look. | 6 | /˘···· |
| The Highest is not high | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| By being higher than others; | 8 | ·/˘/˘·/˘ |
| To greatness you come not a step more nigh | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| By getting above your brothers. | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
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.