Part V: The Happy Ending
We told dear father all our taleThat night before we went to bed,And at the end his face grew pale,And he bent over us and said(Was it not strange?) he, too, was there,A weary, weary watch to keepBefore the gates of the City of Sleep;But, ere we came, he did not dareEven to dream of entering in,Or even to hope for Peterkin.He was the poor blind man, he said,And we--how low he bent his head!Then he called mother near; and lowHe whispered to us--"Prompt me now;For I forget that song we heard,But you remember every word."Then memory came like a breaking morn,And we breathed it to him--A child was born!And there he drew us to his breastAnd softly murmured all the rest.--
The wise men came to greet him with their gifts of myrrhand frankincense,--Gold and myrrh and frankincense they brought to make him mirth;And would you know the way to win to little brother Peterkin,My childhood's heart shall guide you through the glories ofthe earth.
Then he looked up and mother kneltBeside us, oh, her eyes were bright;Her arms were like a lovely beltAll round us as we said Good-nightTo father: he was crying now,But they were happy tears, somehow;For there we saw dear mother layHer cheek against his cheek and say--Hush, let me kiss those tears away.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- 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.]
- 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,]
- somehow adv.
- In one way or another; in some way not yet known or designated; by some means; as, the thing must be done somehow; he lives somehow.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Part V: The Happy Ending is in the public domain. This text is taken from Collected Poems: Volume One, Project Gutenberg ebook #30501; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Alfred Noyes, Part V: The Happy Ending, in Collected Poems, Volume One (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #30501, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/noyes-collected/part-v-the-happy-ending.html, id L21457.
Form and metre
Part V: The Happy Ending is 35 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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 ABABCDDC--BB--EEFFGG taleA · bedB · paleA · saidB · thereC · keepD · sleepD · dareC · in · peterkin · saidB · headB · low · now · heardE · wordE · mornF · bornF · breastG · restG
- 2 --A--A myrrh · frankincense · mirthA · peterkin · of · earthA
- 3 ABABCCDDD kneltA · brightB · beltA · nightB · nowC · somehowC · layD · sayD · awayD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| We told dear father all our tale | 8 | ···/˘·/· |
| That night before we went to bed, | 8 | ········ |
| And at the end his face grew pale, | 8 | ········ |
| And he bent over us and said | 8 | ········ |
| (Was it not strange?) he, too, was there, | 8 | ········ |
| A weary, weary watch to keep | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Before the gates of the City of Sleep; | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| But, ere we came, he did not dare | 8 | ········ |
| Even to dream of entering in, | 8 | /···/˘˘· |
| Or even to hope for Peterkin. | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| He was the poor blind man, he said, | 8 | ········ |
| And we--how low he bent his head! | 8 | ········ |
| Then he called mother near; and low | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He whispered to us--"Prompt me now; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For I forget that song we heard, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| But you remember every word." | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Then memory came like a breaking morn, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| And we breathed it to him--A child was born! | 10 | ·········· |
| And there he drew us to his breast | 8 | ········ |
| And softly murmured all the rest.-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The wise men came to greet him with their gifts of myrrh | 12 | ············ |
| and frankincense,-- | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Gold and myrrh and frankincense they brought to make him mirth; | 13 | ····/˘······· |
| And would you know the way to win to little brother Peterkin, | 16 | ·········/˘/˘˘/˘ |
| My childhood's heart shall guide you through the glories of | 12 | ·/·······/˘· |
| the earth. | 2 | ·· |
| Then he looked up and mother knelt | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Beside us, oh, her eyes were bright; | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Her arms were like a lovely belt | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| All round us as we said Good-night | 8 | ········ |
| To father: he was crying now, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But they were happy tears, somehow; | 8 | ···/˘·/· |
| For there we saw dear mother lay | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Her cheek against his cheek and say-- | 8 | ········ |
| Hush, let me kiss those tears away. | 8 | ······˘/ |
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.