Willie's Question V
Papa, I am come again:It is now three months and moreThat I've tried to do the thing that was plain,And I feel as small as before.The Father answers.
Your honour comes too slow?How much then have you done?One foot on a mole-heap, would you crowAs if you had reached the sun?
Willie speaks.
But I cannot help a doubtWhether this way be the true:The more I do to work it outThe more there comes to do;
And yet, were all done and past,I should feel just as small,For when I had tried to the very last--'Twas my duty, after all!
It is only much the sameAs not being liar or thief!The Father answers.
One who tried it found even, with shame,That of sinners he was the chief!
My boy, I am glad indeedYou have been finding the truth!
Willie speaks.
But where's the good? I shall never speed--Be one whit greater, in sooth!
If duty itself must fail,And that be the only plan,How shall my scarce begun duty prevailTo make me a mighty man?
The Father answers.
Ah, Willie! what if it wereQuite another way to fall?What if the greatness itself lie there--In knowing that you are small?
In seeing the good so goodThat you feel poor, weak, and low;And hungrily long for it as for food,With an endless need to grow?
The man who was lord of fate,Born in an ox's stall,Was great because he was much too greatTo care about greatness at all.
Ever and only he soughtThe will of his Father good;Never of what was high he thought,But of what his Father would.
You long to be great; you try;You feel yourself smaller still:In the name of God let ambition die;Let him make you what he will.
Who does the truth, is oneWith the living Truth above:Be God's obedient little son,Let ambition die in love.
Words in this poem
- papa n.
- A child's word for father. [F. papa, L. papa; cf. Gr. Pope.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- liar n.
- A person who knowingly utters falsehood; one who lies. [OE. liere. See Lie to falsify.]
- 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,]
- whit n.
- The smallest part or particle imaginable; a bit; a jot; an iota; -- generally used in an adverbial phrase in a negative sentence. [OE. wight, wiht, AS. wiht a creature, a thing. See Wight, and cf. Aught, Naught.]
- sooth a.
- True; faithful; trustworthy. [OE. soth, AS. s, for san; akin to OS. s, OHG. sand, Icel. sannr, Sw. sann, Dan. sand, Skr. sat, sant, real, genuine, present, being; properly p. pr. from a root]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- hungrily adv.
- In a hungry manner; voraciously. [From Hunger.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Willie's Question V 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 V, 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-v.html, id L22352.
Form and metre
Willie's Question V is 57 lines in 18 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%).
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 -A-A- again · moreA · plain · beforeA · answers
- 2 BCBC slowB · doneC · crowB · sunC
- 4 DEDE doubtD · trueE · outD · doE
- 5 FGFG pastF · smallG · lastF · allG
- 6 HI- sameH · thiefI · answers
- 7 HI shameH · chiefI
- 8 JK indeedJ · truthK
- 10 JK speedJ · soothK
- 11 LMLM failL · planM · prevailL · manM
- 13 -N-N were · fallN · there · smallN
- 14 -O-O good · lowO · food · growO
- 15 PNPN fateP · stallN · greatP · allN
- 16 QRQR soughtQ · goodR · thoughtQ · wouldR
- 17 STST tryS · stillT · dieS · willT
- 18 UVUV oneU · aboveV · sonU · loveV
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Papa, I am come again: | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| It is now three months and more | 7 | ······· |
| That I've tried to do the thing that was plain, | 10 | ·········· |
| And I feel as small as before. | 8 | ········ |
| The Father answers. | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Your honour comes too slow? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| How much then have you done? | 6 | ······ |
| One foot on a mole-heap, would you crow | 9 | ········· |
| As if you had reached the sun? | 7 | ······· |
| Willie speaks. | 3 | /˘· |
| But I cannot help a doubt | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Whether this way be the true: | 7 | ······· |
| The more I do to work it out | 8 | ········ |
| The more there comes to do; | 6 | ······ |
| And yet, were all done and past, | 7 | ······· |
| I should feel just as small, | 6 | ······ |
| For when I had tried to the very last-- | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| 'Twas my duty, after all! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| It is only much the same | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| As not being liar or thief! | 7 | ··//˘·· |
| The Father answers. | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| One who tried it found even, with shame, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| That of sinners he was the chief! | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| My boy, I am glad indeed | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| You have been finding the truth! | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Willie speaks. | 3 | /˘· |
| But where's the good? I shall never speed-- | 8 | ······/· |
| Be one whit greater, in sooth! | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| If duty itself must fail, | 7 | ·/˘˘/·· |
| And that be the only plan, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| How shall my scarce begun duty prevail | 10 | ····˘//˘˘/ |
| To make me a mighty man? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| The Father answers. | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Ah, Willie! what if it were | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Quite another way to fall? | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| What if the greatness itself lie there-- | 9 | ···/˘˘/·· |
| In knowing that you are small? | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| In seeing the good so good | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| That you feel poor, weak, and low; | 7 | ······· |
| And hungrily long for it as for food, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| With an endless need to grow? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| The man who was lord of fate, | 7 | ······· |
| Born in an ox's stall, | 5 | ····· |
| Was great because he was much too great | 9 | ········· |
| To care about greatness at all. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Ever and only he sought | 7 | /˘·/˘·· |
| The will of his Father good; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Never of what was high he thought, | 7 | /······ |
| But of what his Father would. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| You long to be great; you try; | 7 | ······· |
| You feel yourself smaller still: | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| In the name of God let ambition die; | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Let him make you what he will. | 7 | ······· |
| Who does the truth, is one | 6 | ······ |
| With the living Truth above: | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Be God's obedient little son, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Let ambition die in love. | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
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