The Optimist
Teach me to live and to forgiveThe death that all must dieWho pass in slumber through this heavenOf earth and sea and sky;Who live by grace of Time and SpaceAt which their peace is priced;And cast their lots upon the robeThat wraps the cosmic Christ;
Who cannot see the world-wide TreeWhere Love lies bleeding still;This universal cross of GodOur star-crowned Igdrasil.
Teach me to live; I do not askFor length of earthly days,Or that my heaven-appointed taskShould fall in pleasant ways;
If in this hour of warmth and lightThe last great knell were knolled;If Death should close mine eyes to-nightAnd all the tale be told;
While I have lips to speak or singAnd power to draw this breath,Shall I not praise my Lord and KingAbove all else, for death?
When on a golden eve he droveHis keenest sorrow deepDeep in my heart, and called it love;I did not wince or weep.
A wild Hosanna shook the worldAnd wakened all the sky,As through a white and burning lightHer passionate face went by.
When on a golden dawn he calledMy best beloved away,I did not shrink or stand appalledBefore the hopeless day.
The joy of that triumphant dearthAnd anguish cannot die;The joy that casts aside this earthFor immortality.
I would not change one word of doomUpon the dreadful scroll,That gave her body to the tombAnd freed her fettered soul.
For now each idle breeze can bringThe kiss I never seek;The nightingale has heard her sing,The rose caressed her cheek.
And every pang of every griefThat ruled my soul an hour,Has given new splendours to the leaf,New glories to the flower;
And melting earth into the heavenWhose inmost heart is pain,Has drawn the veils apart and givenHer soul to mine again.
Words in this poem
- cosmic a.
- Pertaining to the universe, and having special reference to universal law or order, or to the one grand harmonious system of things; hence; harmonious; orderly. [Gr. kosmiko`s of the world, fr. ko`smos: cf. F. cosmique. See Cosmos.]
- 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,]
- drove n.
- A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
- hosanna n.
- A Hebrew exclamation of praise to the Lord, or an invocation of blessings. [Gr. hoshi'ah nnasave now, save, we pray, hoshia' to save (Hiphil, a causative form, of yasha') + na, a particle.]
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- dearth n.
- Scarcity which renders dear; want; lack; specifically, lack of food on account of failure of crops; famine. [OE. derthe, fr. dere. See Dear.]
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- fettered a.
- Seeming as if fettered, as the feet pf certain animals which bend backward, and appear unfit for walking.
- inmost a.
- Deepest within; farthest from the surface or external part; innermost. [OE. innemest, AS. innemest, a double superlative form fr. inne within, fr. in in. The modern form is due to confusion with most. See In, and cf. Aftermost, Fore]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Optimist 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, The Optimist, in Collected Poems, Volume One (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #30501, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/noyes-collected/the-optimist.html, id L21426.
Form and metre
The Optimist is 56 lines in 13 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 7 of its 13 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%).
See other poems in common measure.
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 -A-A-B-B forgive · dieA · heaven · skyA · space · pricedB · robe · christB
- 3 ABAB askA · daysB · taskA · waysB
- 4 ABAB lightA · knolledB · nightA · toldB
- 5 ABAB singA · breathB · kingA · deathB
- 6 -A-A drove · deepA · love · weepA
- 7 -A-A world · skyA · light · byA
- 8 ABAB calledA · awayB · appalledA · dayB
- 9 A-A- dearthA · die · earthA · immortality
- 10 ABAB doomA · scrollB · tombA · soulB
- 11 ABAB bringA · seekB · singA · cheekB
- 12 ABAB griefA · hourB · leafA · flowerB
- 13 AAAA heavenA · painA · givenA · againA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Teach me to live and to forgive | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The death that all must die | 6 | ······ |
| Who pass in slumber through this heaven | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Of earth and sea and sky; | 6 | ······ |
| Who live by grace of Time and Space | 8 | ········ |
| At which their peace is priced; | 6 | ······ |
| And cast their lots upon the robe | 8 | ········ |
| That wraps the cosmic Christ; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Who cannot see the world-wide Tree | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Where Love lies bleeding still; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| This universal cross of God | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Our star-crowned Igdrasil. | 7 | /˘····· |
| Teach me to live; I do not ask | 8 | ········ |
| For length of earthly days, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Or that my heaven-appointed task | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘· |
| Should fall in pleasant ways; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| If in this hour of warmth and light | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| The last great knell were knolled; | 6 | ······ |
| If Death should close mine eyes to-night | 8 | ········ |
| And all the tale be told; | 6 | ······ |
| While I have lips to speak or sing | 8 | ········ |
| And power to draw this breath, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Shall I not praise my Lord and King | 8 | ········ |
| Above all else, for death? | 6 | ······ |
| When on a golden eve he drove | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| His keenest sorrow deep | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Deep in my heart, and called it love; | 8 | ········ |
| I did not wince or weep. | 6 | ······ |
| A wild Hosanna shook the world | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And wakened all the sky, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| As through a white and burning light | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Her passionate face went by. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| When on a golden dawn he called | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| My best beloved away, | 6 | ··˘/˘/ |
| I did not shrink or stand appalled | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Before the hopeless day. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The joy of that triumphant dearth | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And anguish cannot die; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| The joy that casts aside this earth | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| For immortality. | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| I would not change one word of doom | 8 | ········ |
| Upon the dreadful scroll, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That gave her body to the tomb | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And freed her fettered soul. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| For now each idle breeze can bring | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The kiss I never seek; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The nightingale has heard her sing, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| The rose caressed her cheek. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| And every pang of every grief | 10 | ·/˘˘··/˘˘· |
| That ruled my soul an hour, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Has given new splendours to the leaf, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| New glories to the flower; | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| And melting earth into the heaven | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Whose inmost heart is pain, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Has drawn the veils apart and given | 9 | ····˘/·/˘ |
| Her soul to mine again. | 6 | ····˘/ |
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.