A Chrysalis
My little Mädchen found one dayA curious something in her play,That was not fruit, nor flower, nor seed;It was not anything that grew,Or crept, or climbed, or swam, or flew;Had neither legs nor wings, indeed;And yet she was not sure, she said,Whether it was alive or dead.
She brought it in her tiny handTo see if I would understand,And wondered when I made reply,“You’ve found a baby butterfly.”“A butterfly is not like this,”With doubtful look she answered me.So then I told her what would beSome day within the chrysalis:How, slowly, in the dull brown thingNow still as death, a spotted wing,And then another, would unfold,Till from the empty shell would flyA pretty creature, by and by,All radiant in blue and gold.
“And will it, truly?” questioned she--Her laughing lips and eager eyesAll in a sparkle of surprise--“And shall your little Mädchen see?”“She shall!” I said. How could I tellThat ere the worm within its shellIts gauzy, splendid wings had spread,My little Mädchen would be dead?
To-day the butterfly has flown,--She was not here to see it fly,--And sorrowing I wonder whyThe empty shell is mine alone.Perhaps the secret lies in this:I too had found a chrysalis,And Death that robbed me of delightWas but the radiant creature’s flight!
Words in this poem
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
- wondered a.
- Having performed wonders; able to perform wonderful things.
- 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,]
- gauzy a.
- Pertaining to, or resembling, gauze; thin and slight as gauze.
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Chrysalis is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Every Child Should Know The What-Every-Child-Should-Know-Library, Project Gutenberg ebook #16436; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Mary E. Burt, A Chrysalis, in Poems Every Child Should Know (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16436, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poems-every-child/a-chrysalis.html, id L25247.
Form and metre
A Chrysalis is 38 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABBACCDD, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 AABCCBDD dayA · playA · seedB · grewC · flewC · indeedB · saidD · deadD
- 2 AABBCDDCEEFBBF handA · understandA · replyB · butterflyB · thisC · meD · beD · chrysalisC · thingE · wingE · unfoldF · flyB · byB · goldF
- 3 ABBACCDD sheA · eyesB · surpriseB · seeA · tellC · shellC · spreadD · deadD
- 4 ABBACCDD flownA · flyB · whyB · aloneA · thisC · chrysalisC · delightD · flightD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| My little Mädchen found one day | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A curious something in her play, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| That was not fruit, nor flower, nor seed; | 8 | ·····/·· |
| It was not anything that grew, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or crept, or climbed, or swam, or flew; | 8 | ········ |
| Had neither legs nor wings, indeed; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And yet she was not sure, she said, | 8 | ········ |
| Whether it was alive or dead. | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| She brought it in her tiny hand | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To see if I would understand, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And wondered when I made reply, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| “You’ve found a baby butterfly.” | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| “A butterfly is not like this,” | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| With doubtful look she answered me. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| So then I told her what would be | 8 | ········ |
| Some day within the chrysalis: | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| How, slowly, in the dull brown thing | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Now still as death, a spotted wing, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And then another, would unfold, | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| Till from the empty shell would fly | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A pretty creature, by and by, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| All radiant in blue and gold. | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| “And will it, truly?” questioned she-- | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Her laughing lips and eager eyes | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| All in a sparkle of surprise-- | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| “And shall your little Mädchen see?” | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| “She shall!” I said. How could I tell | 8 | ········ |
| That ere the worm within its shell | 8 | ········ |
| Its gauzy, splendid wings had spread, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| My little Mädchen would be dead? | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To-day the butterfly has flown,-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| She was not here to see it fly,-- | 8 | ········ |
| And sorrowing I wonder why | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| The empty shell is mine alone. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Perhaps the secret lies in this: | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| I too had found a chrysalis, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| And Death that robbed me of delight | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Was but the radiant creature’s flight! | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
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