Willie's Question IV
Then put me in the way,For you, papa, are a man:What thing shall I do this very day?--Only be sure I can.
I want to know--I am willing,Let me at least have a chance!Shall I give the monkey-boy my shilling?--I want to serve at once.The Father answers.
Give all your shillings you mightAnd hurt your brothers the more;He only can serve his fellows arightWho goes in at the little door.
We must do the thing we mustBefore the thing we may;We are unfit for any trustTill we can and do obey.Willie speaks.
I will try more and more;I have nothing now to ask;Obedience I know is the little door:Now set me some hard task.
The Father answers.
No, Willie; the father of all,Teacher and master high,Has set your task beyond recall,Nothing can set it by.Willie speaks.
What is it, father dear,That he would have me do?I'd ask himself, but he's not near,And so I must ask you!
The Father answers.
Me 'tis no use to ask,I too am one of his boys!But he tells each boy his own plain task;Listen, and hear his voice.Willie speaks.
Father, I'm listening soTo hear him if I may!His voice must either be very low,Or very far away!
The Father answers.
It is neither hard to hear,Nor hard to understand;It is very low, but very near,A still, small, strong command.Willie answers.
I do not hear it at all;I am only hearing you!The Father speaks.
Think: is there nothing, great or small,You ought to go and do?
Willie answers.
Let me think:--I ought to feedMy rabbits. I went awayIn such a hurry this morning! IndeedThey've not had enough to-day!
The Father speaks.
That is his whisper low!That is his very word!You had only to stop and listen, and soVery plainly you heard!
That duty's the little door:You must open it and go in;There is nothing else to do before,There is nowhere else to begin.Willie speaks.
But that's so easily done!It's such a trifling affair!So nearly over as soon as begun.For that he can hardly care!
The Father answers.
You are turning from his callIf you let that duty wait;You would not think any duty smallIf you yourself were great.
The nearest is at life's core;With the first, you all begin:What matter how little the little doorIf it only let you in?
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,]
- aright adv.
- Rightly; correctly; in a right way or form; without mistake or crime; as, to worship God aright. [Pref. a- + right.]
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- nowhere adv.
- Not anywhere; not in any place or state; as, the book is nowhere to be found. [AS. nahwær. See No, and Where.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Willie's Question IV 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 IV, 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-iv.html, id L22351.
Form and metre
Willie's Question IV is 81 lines in 24 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABAB, in 10 of the 24 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
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 wayA · manB · dayA · canB
- 2 A-A-- willingA · chance · shillingA · once · answers
- 3 ABAB mightA · moreB · arightA · doorB
- 4 ABAB- mustA · mayB · trustA · obeyB · speaks
- 5 ABAB moreA · askB · doorA · taskB
- 7 ABAB- allA · highB · recallA · byB · speaks
- 8 ABAB dearA · doB · nearA · youB
- 10 A-A-- askA · boys · taskA · voice · speaks
- 11 ABAB soA · mayB · lowA · awayB
- 13 ABAB- hearA · understandB · nearA · commandB · answers
- 17 ABAB feedA · awayB · indeedA · dayB
- 19 ABAB lowA · wordB · soA · heardB
- 20 ABAB- doorA · inB · beforeA · beginB · speaks
- 21 ABAB doneA · affairB · begunA · careB
- 23 ABAB callA · waitB · smallA · greatB
- 24 ABAB coreA · beginB · doorA · inB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Then put me in the way, | 6 | ······ |
| For you, papa, are a man: | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| What thing shall I do this very day?-- | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Only be sure I can. | 6 | /˘···· |
| I want to know--I am willing, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Let me at least have a chance! | 7 | ······· |
| Shall I give the monkey-boy my shilling?-- | 10 | ····/˘··/˘ |
| I want to serve at once. | 6 | ······ |
| The Father answers. | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Give all your shillings you might | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| And hurt your brothers the more; | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| He only can serve his fellows aright | 10 | ·/˘···/˘˘/ |
| Who goes in at the little door. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| We must do the thing we must | 7 | ······· |
| Before the thing we may; | 6 | ······ |
| We are unfit for any trust | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Till we can and do obey. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Willie speaks. | 3 | /˘· |
| I will try more and more; | 6 | ······ |
| I have nothing now to ask; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Obedience I know is the little door: | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| Now set me some hard task. | 6 | ······ |
| The Father answers. | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| No, Willie; the father of all, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| Teacher and master high, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Has set your task beyond recall, | 8 | ······/· |
| Nothing can set it by. | 6 | /˘···· |
| Willie speaks. | 3 | /˘· |
| What is it, father dear, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That he would have me do? | 6 | ······ |
| I'd ask himself, but he's not near, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| And so I must ask you! | 6 | ······ |
| The Father answers. | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Me 'tis no use to ask, | 6 | ······ |
| I too am one of his boys! | 7 | ······· |
| But he tells each boy his own plain task; | 9 | ········· |
| Listen, and hear his voice. | 6 | /˘···· |
| Willie speaks. | 3 | /˘· |
| Father, I'm listening so | 7 | /˘·/˘˘· |
| To hear him if I may! | 6 | ······ |
| His voice must either be very low, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| Or very far away! | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| The Father answers. | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| It is neither hard to hear, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Nor hard to understand; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| It is very low, but very near, | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| A still, small, strong command. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Willie answers. | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| I do not hear it at all; | 7 | ······· |
| I am only hearing you! | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| The Father speaks. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Think: is there nothing, great or small, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| You ought to go and do? | 6 | ······ |
| Willie answers. | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Let me think:--I ought to feed | 7 | ······· |
| My rabbits. I went away | 7 | ·/˘··˘/ |
| In such a hurry this morning! Indeed | 10 | ···/˘·/˘˘/ |
| They've not had enough to-day! | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| The Father speaks. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| That is his whisper low! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That is his very word! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| You had only to stop and listen, and so | 11 | ··/˘···/˘·· |
| Very plainly you heard! | 6 | /˘/˘·· |
| That duty's the little door: | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| You must open it and go in; | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| There is nothing else to do before, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| There is nowhere else to begin. | 8 | ··/···˘/ |
| Willie speaks. | 3 | /˘· |
| But that's so easily done! | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| It's such a trifling affair! | 7 | ···/˘˘/ |
| So nearly over as soon as begun. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| For that he can hardly care! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| The Father answers. | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| You are turning from his call | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| If you let that duty wait; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| You would not think any duty small | 9 | ····/˘/˘· |
| If you yourself were great. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| The nearest is at life's core; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| With the first, you all begin: | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| What matter how little the little door | 10 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘· |
| If it only let you in? | 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.