The Requital
Loud roared the Tempest,Fast fell the sleet;A little Child AngelPassed down the street,With trailing pinions,And weary feet.
The moon was hidden;No stars were bright;So she could not shelterIn heaven that night,For the Angels' laddersAre rays of light.
She beat her wingsAt each window pane,And pleaded for shelter,But all in vain:--"Listen," they said,"To the pelting rain!"
She sobbed, as the laughterAnd mirth grew higher,"Give me rest and shelterBeside your fire,And I will give youYour heart's desire."
The dreamer sat watchingHis embers gleam,While his heart was floatingDown hope's bright stream;. . . So he wove her wailingInto his dream.
The worker toiled on,For his time was brief;The mourner was nursingHer own pale grief:They heard not the promiseThat brought relief.
But fiercer the TempestRose than before,When the Angel pausedAt a humble door,And asked for shelterAnd help once more.
A weary woman,Pale, worn, and thin,With the brand upon herOf want and sin,Heard the Child AngelAnd took her in.
Took her in gently,And did her bestTo dry her pinions;And made her restWith tender pityUpon her breast.
When the eastern morningGrew bright and red,Up the first sunbeamThe Angel fled;Having kissed the womanAnd left her--dead.
Words in this poem
- sleet n.
- The part of a mortar extending from the chamber to the trunnions.
- pane n.
- The narrow edge of a hammer head. See Peen. [F. panne.]
- dreamer n.
- One who dreams.
- wove
- p. pr. & rare vb. n. of Weave.
- mourner n.
- One who mourns or is grieved at any misfortune, as the death of a friend.
- sunbeam n.
- A beam or ray of the sun. [AS. sunnebeam.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Requital is in the public domain. This text is taken from Legends and Lyrics. Part 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #2304; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Adelaide Anne Procter, The Requital, in Legends and Lyrics: Second Series (1861), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2304, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/procter-legends-lyrics/the-requital.html, id L21765.
Form and metre
The Requital is 60 lines in 10 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 -A-A-A tempest · sleetA · angel · streetA · pinions · feetA
- 2 -A-A-A hidden · brightA · shelter · nightA · ladders · lightA
- 3 -A-A-A wings · paneA · shelter · vainA · said · rainA
- 4 -A-A-A laughter · higherA · shelter · fireA · you · desireA
- 5 -A-A-A watching · gleamA · floating · streamA · wailing · dreamA
- 6 -A-A-A on · briefA · nursing · griefA · promise · reliefA
- 7 -A-A-A tempest · beforeA · paused · doorA · shelter · moreA
- 8 AA-A-A womanA · thinA · her · sinA · angel · inA
- 9 -A-A-A gently · bestA · pinions · restA · pity · breastA
- 10 -A-A-A morning · redA · sunbeam · fledA · woman · deadA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Loud roared the Tempest, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Fast fell the sleet; | 4 | ···· |
| A little Child Angel | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Passed down the street, | 4 | ···· |
| With trailing pinions, | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| And weary feet. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The moon was hidden; | 5 | ···/˘ |
| No stars were bright; | 4 | ···· |
| So she could not shelter | 6 | ····/˘ |
| In heaven that night, | 4 | ·/·· |
| For the Angels' ladders | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Are rays of light. | 4 | ···· |
| She beat her wings | 4 | ···· |
| At each window pane, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| And pleaded for shelter, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| But all in vain:-- | 4 | ···· |
| "Listen," they said, | 4 | /˘·· |
| "To the pelting rain!" | 5 | ··/˘· |
| She sobbed, as the laughter | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And mirth grew higher, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| "Give me rest and shelter | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Beside your fire, | 5 | ˘/·/˘ |
| And I will give you | 5 | ····· |
| Your heart's desire." | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| The dreamer sat watching | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| His embers gleam, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| While his heart was floating | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Down hope's bright stream; | 4 | ···· |
| . . . So he wove her wailing | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Into his dream. | 4 | ···· |
| The worker toiled on, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| For his time was brief; | 5 | ····· |
| The mourner was nursing | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Her own pale grief: | 4 | ···· |
| They heard not the promise | 6 | ····/˘ |
| That brought relief. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| But fiercer the Tempest | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Rose than before, | 4 | ···· |
| When the Angel paused | 5 | ··/˘· |
| At a humble door, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| And asked for shelter | 5 | ···/˘ |
| And help once more. | 4 | ···· |
| A weary woman, | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Pale, worn, and thin, | 4 | ···· |
| With the brand upon her | 6 | ······ |
| Of want and sin, | 4 | ···· |
| Heard the Child Angel | 5 | ···/˘ |
| And took her in. | 4 | ···· |
| Took her in gently, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| And did her best | 4 | ···· |
| To dry her pinions; | 5 | ···/˘ |
| And made her rest | 4 | ···· |
| With tender pity | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Upon her breast. | 4 | ···· |
| When the eastern morning | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Grew bright and red, | 4 | ···· |
| Up the first sunbeam | 5 | ···/· |
| The Angel fled; | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Having kissed the woman | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| And left her--dead. | 4 | ···· |
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.