Stars
Most merciful GodLook kindly uponAn impudent childWho wants sitting on.This evening lateI went to the doorAnd then to the gateThere were more stars—moreThan I could have expected,Even I!I was simply amazedAlmighty, August!I was utterly dazed,Omnipotent! JustIn a word I was floored,Good God of Hosts—Lord!That at this time of dayThey should still blaze away,That thou hadst not rejectedOr at least circumspectedTheir white silver beauty—Was it spite ... Was it duty..?
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Stars is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #59276; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Katherine Mansfield, Stars, in Poems (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59276, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mansfield-poems/stars.html, id L27596.
Form and metre
Stars is 22 lines in a single stanza. The metre is anapaestic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in anapaestic dimeter.
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-ABCBCD-EFEFGGHHDDII god · uponA · child · onA · lateB · doorC · gateB · moreC · expectedD · i · amazedE · augustF · dazedE · justF · flooredG · lordG · dayH · awayH · rejectedD · circumspectedD · beautyI · dutyI
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 anapaestic dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Most merciful God | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| Look kindly upon | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| An impudent child | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| Who wants sitting on. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| This evening late | 4 | ·/˘· |
| I went to the door | 5 | ····· |
| And then to the gate | 5 | ····· |
| There were more stars—more | 5 | ····· |
| Than I could have expected, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Even I! | 3 | /˘· |
| I was simply amazed | 6 | ··/˘˘/ |
| Almighty, August! | 5 | ˘/˘/˘ |
| I was utterly dazed, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Omnipotent! Just | 5 | ˘/˘˘· |
| In a word I was floored, | 6 | ······ |
| Good God of Hosts—Lord! | 5 | ····· |
| That at this time of day | 6 | ······ |
| They should still blaze away, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| That thou hadst not rejected | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Or at least circumspected | 7 | ···/˘·˘ |
| Their white silver beauty— | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Was it spite ... Was it duty..? | 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.