Preparations
Christ Church MS.
Yet if His Majesty, our sovereign lord,Should of his own accordFriendly himself invite,And say ‘I’ll be your guest to-morrow night,’How should we stir ourselves, call and commandAll hands to work! ‘Let no man idle stand!
‘Set me fine Spanish tables in the hall;See they be fitted all;Let there be room to eatAnd order taken that there want no meat.See every sconce and candlestick made bright,That without tapers they may give a light.
‘Look to the presence: are the carpets spread,The dazie o’er the head,The cushions in the chairs,And all the candles lighted on the stairs?Perfume the chambers, and in any caseLet each man give attendance in his place!’
Thus, if a king were coming, would we do;And ’twere good reason too;For ’tis a duteous thingTo show all honour to an earthly king,And after all our travail and our cost,So he be pleased, to think no labour lost.
But at the coming of the King of HeavenAll’s set at six and seven;We wallow in our sin,Christ cannot find a chamber in the inn.We entertain Him always like a stranger,And, as at first, still lodge Him in the manger.
Words in this poem
- sconce v. t.
- To shut up in a sconce; to imprison; to insconce.
- candlestick n.
- An instrument or utensil for supporting a candle. [AS. candel-sticca; candel candle + sticca stick.]
- attendance n.
- Attention; regard; careful application. [OE. attendance, OF. atendance, fr. atendre, F. attendre. See Attend, v. t.]
- duteous a.
- Fulfilling duty; dutiful; having the sentiments due to a superior, or to one to whom respect or service is owed; obedient; as, a duteous son or daughter. [From Duty.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Preparations is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900, Project Gutenberg ebook #66619; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Anonymous, Preparations, in Poems, text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-anonymous-english/preparations.html, id L15909.
Form and metre
Preparations is 31 lines in 6 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABBCC, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.7 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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.
- 2 AABBCC lordA · accordA · inviteB · nightB · commandC · standC
- 3 AABBCC hallA · allA · eatB · meatB · brightC · lightC
- 4 AABBCC spreadA · headA · chairsB · stairsB · caseC · placeC
- 5 AABBCC doA · tooA · thingB · kingB · costC · lostC
- 6 AABBCC heavenA · sevenA · sinB · innB · strangerC · mangerC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Christ Church MS. | 3 | ··· |
| Yet if His Majesty, our sovereign lord, | 10 | ···/˘˘//˘· |
| Should of his own accord | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Friendly himself invite, | 6 | /˘˘/˘/ |
| And say ‘I’ll be your guest to-morrow night,’ | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| How should we stir ourselves, call and command | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| All hands to work! ‘Let no man idle stand! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| ‘Set me fine Spanish tables in the hall; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| See they be fitted all; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Let there be room to eat | 6 | ······ |
| And order taken that there want no meat. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| See every sconce and candlestick made bright, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| That without tapers they may give a light. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| ‘Look to the presence: are the carpets spread, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The dazie o’er the head, | 6 | ······ |
| The cushions in the chairs, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And all the candles lighted on the stairs? | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Perfume the chambers, and in any case | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| Let each man give attendance in his place!’ | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Thus, if a king were coming, would we do; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And ’twere good reason too; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| For ’tis a duteous thing | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| To show all honour to an earthly king, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And after all our travail and our cost, | 10 | ····/˘/·/· |
| So he be pleased, to think no labour lost. | 10 | ·······/·· |
| But at the coming of the King of Heaven | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| All’s set at six and seven; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| We wallow in our sin, | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| Christ cannot find a chamber in the inn. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| We entertain Him always like a stranger, | 11 | ··˘/·/···/˘ |
| And, as at first, still lodge Him in the manger. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
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.