The Choice
Life, come to me in no pale guise and ashen,I care not for thee in such placid fashion!I would share widely, Life,In all thy joy and strife,Would sound thy deeps and reach thy highest passion,With thy delight and with thy suffering rife.
Whether I bide with thee in cot or palace,I would drink deeply, Life, of thy great chalice,Even to its bitter lees—Yea, shrinking not from these,Since out of bitterness come strength and solaceAnd wisdom is not won in slumberous ease.
Wan peace, uncolored days, were a poor favor;To lack great pain and love were to lack savor.Life, take the heart of meAnd fill it brimmingly,No matter with what poignant brew or flavor,So that it may not shrunk and empty be.
Yea, Life, thus would I live, nor play at living,The best of me for thy best gladly giving,With an unfaltering cheer,Greeting thee year by year,Even in thy dourest mood some good achieving,Until I read thy deep-hid meaning clear.
Words in this poem
- ashen a.
- Of or pertaining to the ash tree. [See Ash, the tree.]
- placid a.
- Pleased; contented; unruffied; undisturbed; serene; peaceful; tranquil; quiet; gentle. [L. placidus, originally, pleasing, mild, from placere to please: cf. F. placide. See Please.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- rife a.
- Prevailing; prevalent; abounding. [AS. rif abundant, or Icel. rifr munificent; akin to OD. riff, rijve, abundant.]
- bide v. i.
- To dwell; to inhabit; to abide; to stay. [OE. biden, AS. bidan; akin to OHG. bitan, Goth. beidan, Icel. bi; perh. orig., to wait with trust, and akin to bid. See Bid, v. t., and cf. Abide.]
- chalice n.
- A cup or bowl; especially, the cup used in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. [OR. chalis, calice, OF. chalice, calice, F. calice, fr. L. calix, akin to Gr. helmet. Cf. Calice, Calyx.]
- solace n.
- Comfort in grief; alleviation of grief or anxiety; also, that which relieves in distress; that which cheers or consoles; relief. [OF. solas, ssoulaz, L. solacium, solatium, fr. solari to comfort, console. Cf. Console, v. t.]
- slumberous a.
- Inviting slumber; soporiferous.
- poignant a.
- Pricking; piercing; sharp; pungent. [F., p. pr. of poindre to sting, fr. L. pungere to prick, sting. See Pungent.]
- brew v. t.
- To boil or seethe; to cook. [OE. brewen, AS. breówan; akin to D. brouwen, OHG. priuwan, MHG. briuwen, br, G. brauen, Icel. brugga, Sw. brygga, Dan. brygge, and perh. to L. defrutum must boi]
- gladly adv.
- Preferably; by choice. [From Glad, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Choice 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 Choice, in The Watchman and Other Poems (1916), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/montgomery-watchman/the-choice.html, id L29418.
Form and metre
The Choice is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic 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 AABBAB ashenA · fashionA · lifeB · strifeB · passionA · rifeB
- 2 --AA-A palace · chalice · leesA · theseA · solace · easeA
- 3 AAB-AB favorA · savorA · meB · brimmingly · flavorA · beB
- 4 AABB-B livingA · givingA · cheerB · yearB · achieving · clearB
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Life, come to me in no pale guise and ashen, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| I care not for thee in such placid fashion! | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| I would share widely, Life, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In all thy joy and strife, | 6 | ······ |
| Would sound thy deeps and reach thy highest passion, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| With thy delight and with thy suffering rife. | 11 | ··˘/···/˘˘· |
| Whether I bide with thee in cot or palace, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| I would drink deeply, Life, of thy great chalice, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Even to its bitter lees— | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Yea, shrinking not from these, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Since out of bitterness come strength and solace | 11 | ···/˘˘···/˘ |
| And wisdom is not won in slumberous ease. | 11 | ·/˘····/˘˘· |
| Wan peace, uncolored days, were a poor favor; | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| To lack great pain and love were to lack savor. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Life, take the heart of me | 6 | ······ |
| And fill it brimmingly, | 6 | ······ |
| No matter with what poignant brew or flavor, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| So that it may not shrunk and empty be. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Yea, Life, thus would I live, nor play at living, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| The best of me for thy best gladly giving, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| With an unfaltering cheer, | 7 | ······· |
| Greeting thee year by year, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Even in thy dourest mood some good achieving, | 12 | /··/˘˘···˘/˘ |
| Until I read thy deep-hid meaning clear. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
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.