Waves
I saw a tiny GodSittingUnder a bright blue UmbrellaThat had white tasselsAnd forkèd ribs of gold.Below him His little worldLay open to the sun.The shadow of His hatLay upon a city.When he stretched forth His handA lake became a dark tremble.When he kicked up His footIt became night in the mountain passes.
But thou art small!There are gods far greater than thou;They rise and fall,The tumbling gods of the sea.Can thy heart heave such sighs,Such hollow savage cries,Such windy breath,Such groaning death?And can thy arm enfoldThe old,The cold,The changeless dreadful placesWhere the herdsOf horned sea-monstersAnd the screaming birdsGather together?From those silent menThat lie in the penOf our pearly prisons,Canst thou hunt thy prey?Like us canst thou stayAwaiting thine hour,And then rise like a towerAnd crash and shatter?
There are neither trees nor bushesIn my country,Said the tiny God.But there are streamsAnd waterfallsAnd mountain-peaksCovered with lovely weed.There are little shores and safe harbours,Caves for cool and plains for sun and wind.Lovely is the sound of the rivers,Lovely the flashing brightnessOf the lovely peaks.I am content.
But Thy kingdom is small,Said the God of the Sea.Thy kingdom shall fall;I shall not let thee be.Thou art proud!With a loudPealing of laughter,He rose and coveredThe tiny God’s landWith the tip of his hand,With the curl of his fingers:And after—
The tiny GodBegan to cry.
Words in this poem
- enfold v. t.
- To infold. See Infold.
- changeless a.
- That can not be changed; constant; as, a changeless purpose.
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- screaming a.
- Uttering screams; shrieking.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Waves 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, Waves, in Poems (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59276, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mansfield-poems/waves.html, id L27600.
Form and metre
Waves is 64 lines in 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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.
- 2 A-A-BBCCDDD-E-E-FF-GGHH- smallA · thou · fallA · sea · sighsB · criesB · breathC · deathC · enfoldD · oldD · coldD · places · herdsE · monsters · birdsE · together · menF · penF · prisons · preyG · stayG · hourH · towerH · shatter
- 3 -----A-----A- bushes · country · god · streams · waterfalls · peaksA · weed · harbours · wind · rivers · brightness · peaksA · content
- 4 ABABCCDCEE-D smallA · seaB · fallA · beB · proudC · loudC · laughterD · coveredC · landE · handE · fingers · afterD
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I saw a tiny God | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Sitting | 2 | /˘ |
| Under a bright blue Umbrella | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| That had white tassels | 5 | ···/˘ |
| And forkèd ribs of gold. | 5 | ····· |
| Below him His little world | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Lay open to the sun. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The shadow of His hat | 6 | ·/···· |
| Lay upon a city. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| When he stretched forth His hand | 7 | ···˘··· |
| A lake became a dark tremble. | 8 | ··˘/··/˘ |
| When he kicked up His foot | 7 | ···˘··· |
| It became night in the mountain passes. | 10 | ·˘/···/˘/˘ |
| But thou art small! | 4 | ···· |
| There are gods far greater than thou; | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| They rise and fall, | 4 | ···· |
| The tumbling gods of the sea. | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Can thy heart heave such sighs, | 6 | ······ |
| Such hollow savage cries, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Such windy breath, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Such groaning death? | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And can thy arm enfold | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The old, | 2 | ·· |
| The cold, | 2 | ·· |
| The changeless dreadful places | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| Where the herds | 3 | ··· |
| Of horned sea-monsters | 5 | ···/˘ |
| And the screaming birds | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Gather together? | 5 | /˘˘/˘ |
| From those silent men | 5 | ··/˘· |
| That lie in the pen | 5 | ····· |
| Of our pearly prisons, | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| Canst thou hunt thy prey? | 5 | ····· |
| Like us canst thou stay | 5 | ····· |
| Awaiting thine hour, | 6 | ˘/˘·/˘ |
| And then rise like a tower | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And crash and shatter? | 5 | ···/˘ |
| There are neither trees nor bushes | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| In my country, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Said the tiny God. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| But there are streams | 4 | ···· |
| And waterfalls | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And mountain-peaks | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Covered with lovely weed. | 7 | /˘˘·/˘· |
| There are little shores and safe harbours, | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| Caves for cool and plains for sun and wind. | 9 | ········· |
| Lovely is the sound of the rivers, | 9 | /˘·····/˘ |
| Lovely the flashing brightness | 7 | /˘·/˘/˘ |
| Of the lovely peaks. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| I am content. | 4 | ··/˘ |
| But Thy kingdom is small, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Said the God of the Sea. | 6 | ······ |
| Thy kingdom shall fall; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| I shall not let thee be. | 6 | ······ |
| Thou art proud! | 3 | ··· |
| With a loud | 3 | ··· |
| Pealing of laughter, | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| He rose and covered | 5 | ···/˘ |
| The tiny God’s land | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| With the tip of his hand, | 6 | ······ |
| With the curl of his fingers: | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And after— | 3 | ··· |
| The tiny God | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Began to cry. | 4 | ˘/·· |
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.