Poem VI
Clenched little hands like crumpled rosesDimpled and dear,Feet like flowers that the dawn uncloses,What do I fear?Little hands, will you ever be clenched in anguish?White little limbs, will you droop and languish?Nay, what do I hear?I hear a shouting, far away,You shall ride on a kingly palm-strewn waySome day!
But when you are crowned with a golden crownAnd throned on a golden throne,You'll forget the manger of Bethlehem townAnd your mother that sits alone
Wondering whether the mighty kingRemembers a song she used to sing,Long ago,"Rockaby so,Kings may have wonderful jewels to bring,Mother has only a kiss for her king!"...
Ah, see what a wonderful smile, once more!He opens his great dark eyes!Little child, little king, nay, hush, it is o'erMy fear of those deep twin skies,--Little child,You are all too dreadful and wise!
Words in this poem
- languish v. i.
- To cause to dr Shak.
- 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,]
- manger n.
- A trough or open box in which fodder is placed for horses or cattle to eat. [F. mangeoire, fr. manger to eat, fr. L. manducare, fr. mandere to chew. Cf. Mandible, Manducate.]
- bethlehem n.
- A hospital for lunatics; -- corrupted into bedlam. [Heb. b house of food; b house + lekhem food, lakham to eat. Formerly the name of a hospital for the insane, in London, which had been the priory of St. Mary of ]
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poem VI 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, Poem VI, in Collected Poems, Volume One (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #30501, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/noyes-collected/poem-vi.html, id L21495.
Form and metre
Poem VI is 26 lines in 4 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic trimeter.
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.
- 1 ABABCCBDDD rosesA · dearB · unclosesA · fearB · anguishC · languishC · hearB · awayD · wayD · dayD
- 2 ABAB crownA · throneB · townA · aloneB
- 3 AABBAA kingA · singA · agoB · soB · bringA · kingA
- 4 -A-A-A more · eyesA · o'er · skiesA · child · wiseA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Clenched little hands like crumpled roses | 10 | ·˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Dimpled and dear, | 4 | /˘·· |
| Feet like flowers that the dawn uncloses, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| What do I fear? | 4 | ···· |
| Little hands, will you ever be clenched in anguish? | 11 | /˘···/···/˘ |
| White little limbs, will you droop and languish? | 10 | ·/˘·····/˘ |
| Nay, what do I hear? | 5 | ····· |
| I hear a shouting, far away, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| You shall ride on a kingly palm-strewn way | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Some day! | 2 | ·· |
| But when you are crowned with a golden crown | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And throned on a golden throne, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| You'll forget the manger of Bethlehem town | 11 | ·˘/·/˘·/˘·· |
| And your mother that sits alone | 8 | ··/˘··˘/ |
| Wondering whether the mighty king | 9 | /˘˘···/˘· |
| Remembers a song she used to sing, | 9 | ˘/˘······ |
| Long ago, | 3 | ·˘/ |
| "Rockaby so, | 4 | ···· |
| Kings may have wonderful jewels to bring, | 10 | ···/˘˘/˘·· |
| Mother has only a kiss for her king!"... | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Ah, see what a wonderful smile, once more! | 10 | ····/˘˘··· |
| He opens his great dark eyes! | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Little child, little king, nay, hush, it is o'er | 11 | /˘·/˘······ |
| My fear of those deep twin skies,-- | 7 | ······· |
| Little child, | 3 | /˘· |
| You are all too dreadful and wise! | 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.