Prospice
“The journey is done, the summit attained,And the strong man must go.”“I would hate that Death bandaged my eyes and forebore,And bade me creep past.”“No! let me taste the whole of it”“The reward of all.”
Fear death?--to feel the fog in my throat,The mist in my face,When the snows begin, and the blasts denoteI am nearing the place,The power of the night, the press of the storm,The post of the foe;Where he stands, the Arch Fear in a visible form,Yet the strong man must go:For the journey is done and the summit attained,And the barriers fall,Though a battle’s to fight ere a guerdon be gained,The reward of it all.I was ever a fighter, so--one fight more.The best and the last!I would hate that death bandaged my eyes, and forebore,And bade me creep past.No! let me taste the whole of it, fare like my peersThe heroes of old,Bear the brunt, in a minute pay glad life’s arrearsOf pain, darkness, and cold.For sudden the worst turns the best to the brave,The black minute’s at end.And the elements’ rage, the fiend-voices that raveShall dwindle, shall blend,Shall change, shall become first a peace out of pain,Then a light, then thy breast,O thou soul of my soul! I shall clasp thee again,And with God be the rest!
Words in this poem
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- guerdon n.
- A reward; requital; recompense; -- used in both a good and a bad sense. [OF. guerdon, guerredon, LL. widerdonum (influenced by L. donum gift, cf. Donation ), fr. OHG. widarl; widar again, against (G. wider wieder) + lon reward, G. lo]
- fighter n.
- One who fights; a combatant; a warrior. [AS. feohtere.]
- brunt n.
- The heat, or utmost violence, of an onset; the strength or greatest fury of any contention; as, the brunt of a battle. [OE. brunt, bront, fr. Icel. bruna to rush; cf. Icel. brenna to burn. Cf. Burn, v. t.]
- 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,]
- dwindle v. i.
- To diminish; to become less; to shrink; to waste or consume away; to become degenerate; to fall away. [From OE. dwinen to languish, waste away, AS. dwinan; akin to LG. dwinen, D. dwijnen to vanish, Icel. dvina to cease, dwindle, Sw. tvina; of uncertain origin. Th]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Prospice 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, Prospice, in Poems Every Child Should Know (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16436, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poems-every-child/prospice.html, id L25329.
Form and metre
Prospice is 34 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other poems in anapaestic dimeter.
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 ABABCDCDEFEFGHGHIJIJKLKLMNMN throatA · faceB · denoteA · placeB · stormC · foeD · formC · goD · attainedE · fallF · gainedE · allF · moreG · lastH · foreboreG · pastH · peersI · oldJ · arrearsI · coldJ · braveK · endL · raveK · blendL · painM · breastN · againM · restN
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 anapaestic dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| “The journey is done, the summit attained, | 10 | ·/˘···/˘˘/ |
| And the strong man must go.” | 6 | ······ |
| “I would hate that Death bandaged my eyes and forebore, | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| And bade me creep past.” | 5 | ····· |
| “No! let me taste the whole of it” | 8 | ········ |
| “The reward of all.” | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| Fear death?--to feel the fog in my throat, | 9 | ········· |
| The mist in my face, | 5 | ····· |
| When the snows begin, and the blasts denote | 10 | ···˘/···˘/ |
| I am nearing the place, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| The power of the night, the press of the storm, | 10 | ·/········ |
| The post of the foe; | 5 | ····· |
| Where he stands, the Arch Fear in a visible form, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| Yet the strong man must go: | 6 | ······ |
| For the journey is done and the summit attained, | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘/ |
| And the barriers fall, | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| Though a battle’s to fight ere a guerdon be gained, | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| The reward of it all. | 6 | ·˘/··· |
| I was ever a fighter, so--one fight more. | 9 | ··/·/···· |
| The best and the last! | 5 | ····· |
| I would hate that death bandaged my eyes, and forebore, | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| And bade me creep past. | 5 | ····· |
| No! let me taste the whole of it, fare like my peers | 12 | ············ |
| The heroes of old, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Bear the brunt, in a minute pay glad life’s arrears | 12 | ·····/˘···˘/ |
| Of pain, darkness, and cold. | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| For sudden the worst turns the best to the brave, | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| The black minute’s at end. | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| And the elements’ rage, the fiend-voices that rave | 11 | ··/˘···/˘·· |
| Shall dwindle, shall blend, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Shall change, shall become first a peace out of pain, | 11 | ···˘/······ |
| Then a light, then thy breast, | 6 | ······ |
| O thou soul of my soul! I shall clasp thee again, | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| And with God be the rest! | 6 | ······ |
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