The Call
Mother of her who is close to my heartCease to chide!For no small thing must I wander afarFrom the tender arms and lips of my bride—My love with eyes like the glowing starIn the twilight sky apart.
Coulds't thou have seen Him standing thereEre the day was born,With the mild high look that was like a prayer,Thou woulds't not marvel that I must leave allI hold most dear to answer the callOf that wonderful morn.
We were casting our nets in the sea,Andrew and I;Over the mountains a young wind cameTo kiss the waters of Galilee,And in the calm blue northern skyThe gleaming crest of old Hermon roseGirt with its diadem of snows,And the east was smit with flame.
All our thoughts were simple and gladAs toilers' should be;Andrew, that careless, dark-eyed ladSang a song right merrily,Joyous of melody and word,As he worked with oar and net and sail,But I dreamed of the face that would blush and paleWhen my step should be heard!
Then, as we lifted heedless eyes,We saw Him there,Where the silver waters curled on the shore;Behind Him the radiance of the skiesShining over His long, fair hairWreathed it as with a crown of light;And oh, the grandeur and the graceOf that pale and kingly face—We were weary and hungered with toil of the nightBut we thought not of it more!
He looked upon us with eyes that must seeFar in our hearts past mortal ken;All the delights of the world grew dim—Sweeter is seemed to suffer painAnd wander, outcast of men with Him,Than share in another's joy and gain;Spake He thus royally, "Come with me;I will make you fishers of men."
Mother of her who weeps at my sideCease to chide!Thou knowest not how that one word ringsEver by day and by night in my ear,I cannot hearken to olden thingsI cannot listen to hope or fear;Mother of her who is dearest of all,I must follow the Nazarene's call!
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- girt v. t.
- To gird; to encircle; to invest by means of a girdle; to measure the girth of; as, to girt a tree. [From Girt, n., cf. Girth, v.]
- smit
- 3d. pers. sing. pres. of Smite.
- hungered a.
- Hungry; pinched for food.
- outcast a.
- Cast out; degraded. [Cf. Sw. utkasta to cast out.]
- royally adv.
- In a royal or kingly manner; like a king; as becomes a king.
- olden a.
- Old; ancient; as, the olden time.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Call is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Watchman and Other Poems (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1917; Toronto: McClelland, Goodchild and Stewart, 1916), Internet Archive; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: L. M. Montgomery, The Call, in The Watchman and Other Poems (1916), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/montgomery-watchman/the-call.html, id L29431.
Form and metre
The Call is 54 lines in 7 stanzas. The metre is trochaic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 71%).
See other poems in trochaic pentameter.
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 ABCBCA heartA · chideB · afarC · brideB · starC · apartA
- 2 ABACCB thereA · bornB · prayerA · allC · callC · mornB
- 3 ABCABDDC seaA · iB · cameC · galileeA · skyB · roseD · snowsD · flameC
- 4 A-A-BCCB gladA · be · ladA · merrily · wordB · sailC · paleC · heardB
- 5 ABCABDEEDC eyesA · thereB · shoreC · skiesA · hairB · lightD · graceE · faceE · nightD · moreC
- 6 ABCDCDAB seeA · kenB · dimC · painD · himC · gainD · meA · menB
- 7 AABCBCDD sideA · chideA · ringsB · earC · thingsB · fearC · allD · callD
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 trochaic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Mother of her who is close to my heart | 10 | /˘········ |
| Cease to chide! | 3 | ··· |
| For no small thing must I wander afar | 10 | ······/˘˘/ |
| From the tender arms and lips of my bride— | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| My love with eyes like the glowing star | 9 | ······/˘· |
| In the twilight sky apart. | 7 | ··/··˘/ |
| Coulds't thou have seen Him standing there | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Ere the day was born, | 5 | ····· |
| With the mild high look that was like a prayer, | 10 | ·········· |
| Thou woulds't not marvel that I must leave all | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| I hold most dear to answer the call | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Of that wonderful morn. | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| We were casting our nets in the sea, | 9 | ··/˘/···· |
| Andrew and I; | 4 | /˘·· |
| Over the mountains a young wind came | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| To kiss the waters of Galilee, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| And in the calm blue northern sky | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The gleaming crest of old Hermon rose | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Girt with its diadem of snows, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And the east was smit with flame. | 7 | ······· |
| All our thoughts were simple and glad | 8 | ·/··/˘·· |
| As toilers' should be; | 5 | ····· |
| Andrew, that careless, dark-eyed lad | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Sang a song right merrily, | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Joyous of melody and word, | 8 | /˘·/˘˘·· |
| As he worked with oar and net and sail, | 9 | ········· |
| But I dreamed of the face that would blush and pale | 11 | ··········· |
| When my step should be heard! | 6 | ······ |
| Then, as we lifted heedless eyes, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| We saw Him there, | 4 | ···· |
| Where the silver waters curled on the shore; | 10 | ··/˘/˘···· |
| Behind Him the radiance of the skies | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Shining over His long, fair hair | 8 | /˘······ |
| Wreathed it as with a crown of light; | 8 | ········ |
| And oh, the grandeur and the grace | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| Of that pale and kingly face— | 7 | ····/˘· |
| We were weary and hungered with toil of the night | 12 | ··/˘·/˘····· |
| But we thought not of it more! | 7 | ······· |
| He looked upon us with eyes that must see | 10 | ·········· |
| Far in our hearts past mortal ken; | 8 | ··/··/˘· |
| All the delights of the world grew dim— | 9 | ··˘/····· |
| Sweeter is seemed to suffer pain | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| And wander, outcast of men with Him, | 9 | ·/˘/····· |
| Than share in another's joy and gain; | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
| Spake He thus royally, "Come with me; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I will make you fishers of men." | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Mother of her who weeps at my side | 9 | /˘······· |
| Cease to chide! | 3 | ··· |
| Thou knowest not how that one word rings | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Ever by day and by night in my ear, | 9 | /········ |
| I cannot hearken to olden things | 9 | ·/˘/˘·/˘· |
| I cannot listen to hope or fear; | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| Mother of her who is dearest of all, | 10 | /˘····/˘·· |
| I must follow the Nazarene's call! | 9 | ··/˘····· |
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.