Unrecorded
I like to think of the many wordsThe Master in his early daysMust have spoken to them of Nazareth—Words not freighted with life and death,Piercing through soul and heart like swords.But gracious greeting and grateful phrase,The simple speechThat plain folk utter each to each.
Ere over him too darkly layThe prophet shadow of Calvary,I think he talked in very truthWith the innocent gayety of youth,Laughing upon some festal day,Gently, with sinless boyhood's glee.
I think if he had ever saidTo a mother apart,Cradling her baby's shining head,"Thy man-child is strong of limb and heart,"She must have been from that gladsome dayThrilled with enduring pride alway,Fearless of any future dread,Knowing the son upon her kneeWorthy her pain and love would be.
Or if by the dusty wayside well,From the glare and heatOf the burning noon a wayfarer soughtA moment's rest where the palm shade fell,And he said to him, "The day is hot,And your road is rough for wandering feet,"Then I think on his way the pilgrim wentAs one who has shared in a sacrament,Feeling no longer on him pressThe burden of his weariness.
If he said to a maid, "The sunset liesRedly on Nazareth hills to-night,"Each sunset of her life would bringA benedictive memoryOf his haunting face and holy eyes;Or if to a bridegroom thus in spring,"The wife of thy youth is fair and wise,"So would she ever have seemed to beIn her husband's sight.
If he but bade a passing guestHis meal to share,Would not the one so honored deemHimself of all most highly blessed,The food he ate heaven's manna rare?Or when he to a friend addressedA word of thanks for service done,Or homely, familiar favor, noneOf richer recompense could dream.
No evangelist's golden penWrote them for us—The words of the Master to those he might meetBy the carpenter's bench or in Nazareth street—But in them I think there well might be—It is surely sweet to fancy thus—All of the benediction for menAll of the tender humanity,That leaven the words of his later ageOn the holy page.
Words in this poem 19
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- calvary n.
- The place where Christ was crucified, on a small hill outside of Jerusalem. Luke xxiii. 33. [L. calvaria a bare skull, fr. calva the scalp without hair. fr. calvus bald; cf. F. calvaire.]
- festal a.
- Of or pertaining to a holiday or a feast; joyous; festive. [L. festum holiday, feast. See feast.]
- sinless a.
- Free from sin. Piers Plowman.
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
- cradling n.
- The act of using a cradle.
- gladsome a.
- Pleased; joyful; cheerful.
- wayside n.
- The side of the way; the edge or border of a road or path.
- glare v. i.
- To shine with a bright, dazzling light. [OE. glaren, gloren; cf. AS. glær amber, LG. glaren to glow or burn like coals, D. gloren to glimmer; prob. akin to E. glass.]
- wayfarer n.
- One who travels; a traveler; a passenger.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- sacrament n.
- The oath of allegiance taken by Roman soldiers; hence, a sacred ceremony used to impress an obligation; a solemn oath-taking; an oath. [L. sacramentum an oath, a sacred thing, a mystery, a sacrament, fr. sacrare to declare as sacred, sacer sacred: cf. F. sacrament. See Sacred.]
- redly adv.
- In a red manner; with redness.
- benedictive a.
- Tending to bless. Gauden.
- bridegroom n.
- A man newly married, or just about to be married. [OE. bridegome, brudgume, AS. br (akin to OS. br, D. bruidegom, bruigom, OHG. pr, MHG. briutegome, G. bräutigam); AS. br bride + guma man, akin to Goth. guma, Ic]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
- homely a.
- Belonging to, or having the characteristics of, home; domestic; familiar; intimate. [From Home, n.]
- wrote v. i.
- To root with the snout. See 1st Root. [OE. wroten. See 1st Root.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Unrecorded 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, Unrecorded, in The Watchman and Other Poems (1916), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/montgomery-watchman/unrecorded.html, id L29438.
Form and metre
Unrecorded is 61 lines in 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%).
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 -ABB-ACC words · daysA · nazarethB · deathB · swords · phraseA · speechC · eachC
- 2 A-BBA- layA · calvary · truthB · youthB · dayA · glee
- 3 ABAB--ACC saidA · apartB · headA · heartB · day · alway · dreadA · kneeC · beC
- 4 AB-A-BCCDD wellA · heatB · sought · fellA · hot · feetB · wentC · sacramentC · pressD · wearinessD
- 5 ABC-ACA-B liesA · nightB · bringC · memory · eyesA · springC · wiseA · be · sightB
- 6 ABCABADDC guestA · shareB · deemC · blessedA · rareB · addressedA · doneD · noneD · dreamC
- 7 ABCC-BA-DD penA · usB · meetC · streetC · be · thusB · menA · humanity · ageD · pageD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I like to think of the many words | 8 | ······/· |
| The Master in his early days | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Must have spoken to them of Nazareth— | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| Words not freighted with life and death, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Piercing through soul and heart like swords. | 8 | /˘······ |
| But gracious greeting and grateful phrase, | 9 | ·/˘/˘·/˘· |
| The simple speech | 4 | ·/˘· |
| That plain folk utter each to each. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Ere over him too darkly lay | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The prophet shadow of Calvary, | 9 | ·/˘/··/˘˘ |
| I think he talked in very truth | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With the innocent gayety of youth, | 9 | ··/˘/˘˘·· |
| Laughing upon some festal day, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Gently, with sinless boyhood's glee. | 8 | /˘·/˘/·· |
| I think if he had ever said | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To a mother apart, | 6 | ··/˘˘/ |
| Cradling her baby's shining head, | 8 | /˘·/˘/˘· |
| "Thy man-child is strong of limb and heart," | 9 | ········· |
| She must have been from that gladsome day | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Thrilled with enduring pride alway, | 8 | ··˘/˘·/˘ |
| Fearless of any future dread, | 8 | /˘·/˘/˘· |
| Knowing the son upon her knee | 8 | /˘······ |
| Worthy her pain and love would be. | 8 | /˘······ |
| Or if by the dusty wayside well, | 9 | ····/˘/·· |
| From the glare and heat | 5 | ····· |
| Of the burning noon a wayfarer sought | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| A moment's rest where the palm shade fell, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| And he said to him, "The day is hot, | 9 | ········· |
| And your road is rough for wandering feet," | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Then I think on his way the pilgrim went | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| As one who has shared in a sacrament, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Feeling no longer on him press | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| The burden of his weariness. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| If he said to a maid, "The sunset lies | 10 | ·······/·· |
| Redly on Nazareth hills to-night," | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Each sunset of her life would bring | 8 | ·/······ |
| A benedictive memory | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Of his haunting face and holy eyes; | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| Or if to a bridegroom thus in spring, | 9 | ····/···· |
| "The wife of thy youth is fair and wise," | 9 | ········· |
| So would she ever have seemed to be | 8 | ···/···· |
| In her husband's sight. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| If he but bade a passing guest | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| His meal to share, | 4 | ···· |
| Would not the one so honored deem | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Himself of all most highly blessed, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| The food he ate heaven's manna rare? | 9 | ····/˘/˘· |
| Or when he to a friend addressed | 8 | ······˘/ |
| A word of thanks for service done, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or homely, familiar favor, none | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘/˘· |
| Of richer recompense could dream. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| No evangelist's golden pen | 8 | ·˘/˘˘/˘· |
| Wrote them for us— | 4 | ···· |
| The words of the Master to those he might meet | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| By the carpenter's bench or in Nazareth street— | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| But in them I think there well might be— | 9 | ········· |
| It is surely sweet to fancy thus— | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| All of the benediction for men | 9 | ····˘/˘·· |
| All of the tender humanity, | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘˘ |
| That leaven the words of his later age | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| On the holy page. | 5 | ··/˘· |
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.