Two Worlds
God's world is bathed in beauty,God's world is steeped in light;It is the self-same gloryThat makes the day so bright,Which thrills the earth with music,Or hangs the stars in night.
Hid in earth's mines of silver,Floating on clouds above,--Ringing in Autumn's tempest,Murmured by every dove;One thought fills God's creation--His own great name of Love!
In God's world Strength is lovely,And so is Beauty strong,And Light--God's glorious shadow--To both great gifts belong;And they all melt into sweetness,And fill the earth with Song.
Above God's world bends Heaven,With day's kiss pure and bright,Or folds her still more fondlyIn the tender shade of night;And she casts back Heaven's sweetness,In fragrant love and light.
God's world has one great echo;Whether calm blue mists are curled,Or lingering dew-drops quiver,Or red storms are unfurled;The same deep love is throbbingThrough the great heart of God's world.
Man's world is black and blighted,Steeped through with self and sin;And should his feeble purposeSome feeble good begin,The work is marred and taintedBy Leprosy within.
Man's world is bleak and bitter;Wherever he has trodHe spoils the tender beautyThat blossoms on the sod,And blasts the loving HeavenOf the great, good world of God.
There Strength on coward weaknessIn cruel might will roll;Beauty and Joy are cankersThat eat away the soul;And Love--Oh God, avenge it--The plague-spot of the whole.
Man's world is Pain and Terror;He found it pure and fair,And wove in nets of sorrowThe golden summer air.Black, hideous, cold, and dreary,Man's curse, not God's, is there.
And yet God's world is speaking:Man will not hear it call;But listens where the echoesOf his own discords fall,Then clamours back to HeavenThat God has done it all.
Oh God, man's heart is darkened,He will not understand!Show him Thy cloud and fire;And, with Thine own right handThen lead him through his desert,Back to Thy Holy Land!
Words in this poem
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- fondly adv.
- Foolishly. Verstegan (1673).
- wherever adv.
- At or in whatever place; wheresoever.
- wove
- p. pr. & rare vb. n. of Weave.
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Two Worlds 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, Two Worlds, in Legends and Lyrics: Second Series (1861), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2304, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/procter-legends-lyrics/two-worlds.html, id L21768.
Form and metre
Two Worlds is 66 lines in 11 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 -A-A-A beauty · lightA · glory · brightA · music · nightA
- 2 -A-A-A silver · aboveA · tempest · doveA · creation · loveA
- 3 -A-A-A lovely · strongA · shadow · belongA · sweetness · songA
- 4 -A-A-A heaven · brightA · fondly · nightA · sweetness · lightA
- 5 -A-A-A echo · curledA · quiver · unfurledA · throbbing · worldA
- 6 -A-A-A blighted · sinA · purpose · beginA · tainted · withinA
- 7 -A-A-A bitter · trodA · beauty · sodA · heaven · godA
- 8 -A-A-A weakness · rollA · cankers · soulA · it · wholeA
- 9 -A-A-A terror · fairA · sorrow · airA · dreary · thereA
- 10 -A-A-A speaking · callA · echoes · fallA · heaven · allA
- 11 AA-A-A darkenedA · understandA · fire · handA · desert · landA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| God's world is bathed in beauty, | 8 | ····˘·/˘ |
| God's world is steeped in light; | 7 | ····˘·· |
| It is the self-same glory | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| That makes the day so bright, | 6 | ······ |
| Which thrills the earth with music, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Or hangs the stars in night. | 6 | ······ |
| Hid in earth's mines of silver, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Floating on clouds above,-- | 6 | /˘···· |
| Ringing in Autumn's tempest, | 7 | /˘·/˘/˘ |
| Murmured by every dove; | 8 | /˘˘·/˘˘· |
| One thought fills God's creation-- | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| His own great name of Love! | 6 | ······ |
| In God's world Strength is lovely, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And so is Beauty strong, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And Light--God's glorious shadow-- | 8 | ···/˘˘/· |
| To both great gifts belong; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And they all melt into sweetness, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And fill the earth with Song. | 6 | ······ |
| Above God's world bends Heaven, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| With day's kiss pure and bright, | 6 | ······ |
| Or folds her still more fondly | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| In the tender shade of night; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And she casts back Heaven's sweetness, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| In fragrant love and light. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| God's world has one great echo; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Whether calm blue mists are curled, | 8 | ·······˘ |
| Or lingering dew-drops quiver, | 8 | ·/˘˘··/˘ |
| Or red storms are unfurled; | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| The same deep love is throbbing | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Through the great heart of God's world. | 7 | ······· |
| Man's world is black and blighted, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Steeped through with self and sin; | 7 | ·˘····· |
| And should his feeble purpose | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Some feeble good begin, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| The work is marred and tainted | 8 | ····˘·/˘ |
| By Leprosy within. | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Man's world is bleak and bitter; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Wherever he has trod | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| He spoils the tender beauty | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| That blossoms on the sod, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And blasts the loving Heaven | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Of the great, good world of God. | 7 | ······· |
| There Strength on coward weakness | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| In cruel might will roll; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Beauty and Joy are cankers | 7 | /˘···/˘ |
| That eat away the soul; | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| And Love--Oh God, avenge it-- | 7 | ····˘/· |
| The plague-spot of the whole. | 6 | ······ |
| Man's world is Pain and Terror; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| He found it pure and fair, | 6 | ······ |
| And wove in nets of sorrow | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The golden summer air. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Black, hideous, cold, and dreary, | 8 | ·/˘˘··/˘ |
| Man's curse, not God's, is there. | 6 | ······ |
| And yet God's world is speaking: | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Man will not hear it call; | 6 | ······ |
| But listens where the echoes | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Of his own discords fall, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Then clamours back to Heaven | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| That God has done it all. | 6 | ······ |
| Oh God, man's heart is darkened, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| He will not understand! | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Show him Thy cloud and fire; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And, with Thine own right hand | 6 | ······ |
| Then lead him through his desert, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Back to Thy Holy Land! | 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.