'A Bruised Reed Shall He Not Break'
I will accept thy will to do and be,Thy hatred and intolerance of sin,Thy will at least to love, that burns withinAnd thirsteth after Me:So will I render fruitful, blessing still,The germs and small beginnings in thy heart,Because thy will cleaves to the better part.--Alas, I cannot will.
Dost not thou will, poor soul? Yet I receiveThe inner unseen longings of the soul,I guide them turning towards Me; I controlAnd charm hearts till they grieve:If thou desire, it yet shall come to pass,Though thou but wish indeed to choose My love;For I have power in earth and heaven above.--I cannot wish, alas!
What, neither choose nor wish to choose? and yetI still must strive to win thee and constrain:For thee I hung upon the cross in pain,How then can I forget?If thou as yet dost neither love, nor hate,Nor choose, nor wish,--resign thyself, be stillTill I infuse love, hatred, longing, will.--I do not deprecate.
Words in this poem
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- 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,]
- deprecate v. t.
- To pray against, as an evil; to seek to avert by player; to desire the removal of; to seek deliverance from; to express deep regret for; to disapprove of strongly. [L. deprecatus, p. p. of deprecari to avert by player, to deprecate; de- + precari to pray. See Pray.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
'A Bruised Reed Shall He Not Break' is in the public domain. This text is taken from Goblin Market, The Prince's Progress, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #16950; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Christina Rossetti, 'A Bruised Reed Shall He Not Break', in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-goblin-market/a-bruised-reed-shall-he-not-break.html, id L04278.
Form and metre
'A Bruised Reed Shall He Not Break' is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBACDDC. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.0 syllables. 21% 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.
- 1 ABBACDDC beA · sinB · withinB · meA · stillC · heartD · partD · willC
- 2 ABBACDDC receiveA · soulB · controlB · grieveA · passC · loveD · aboveD · alasC
- 3 ABBACDDC yetA · constrainB · painB · forgetA · hateC · stillD · willD · deprecateC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I will accept thy will to do and be, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Thy hatred and intolerance of sin, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘·· |
| Thy will at least to love, that burns within | 10 | ·········· |
| And thirsteth after Me: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| So will I render fruitful, blessing still, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| The germs and small beginnings in thy heart, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Because thy will cleaves to the better part.-- | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Alas, I cannot will. | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Dost not thou will, poor soul? Yet I receive | 10 | ········˘/ |
| The inner unseen longings of the soul, | 10 | ·/˘˘//˘··· |
| I guide them turning towards Me; I control | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| And charm hearts till they grieve: | 6 | ······ |
| If thou desire, it yet shall come to pass, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Though thou but wish indeed to choose My love; | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| For I have power in earth and heaven above.-- | 10 | ···/···/·· |
| I cannot wish, alas! | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| What, neither choose nor wish to choose? and yet | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| I still must strive to win thee and constrain: | 10 | ········˘/ |
| For thee I hung upon the cross in pain, | 10 | ·········· |
| How then can I forget? | 6 | ····˘/ |
| If thou as yet dost neither love, nor hate, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Nor choose, nor wish,--resign thyself, be still | 10 | ····˘/˘/·· |
| Till I infuse love, hatred, longing, will.-- | 10 | ··˘/·/˘/˘· |
| I do not deprecate. | 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.