A Dialogue
'Oh happy happy land!Angels like rushes standAbout the wells of light.'--'Alas, I have not eyes for this fair sight:Hold fast my hand.'--
'As in a soft wind, theyBend all one blessed way,Each bowed in his own glory, star with star.'--'I cannot see so far,Here shadows are.'--
'White-winged the cherubim,Yet whiter seraphim,Glow white with intense fire of love.'--'Mine eyes are dim:I look in vain above,And miss their hymn.'--
'Angels, Archangels cryOne to other ceaselessly(I hear them sing)One "Holy, Holy, Holy" to their King.'--'I do not hear them, I.'--
'At one side ParadiseIs curtained from the rest,Made green for wearied eyes;Much softer than the breastOf mother-dove clad in a rainbow's dyes.
'All precious souls are thereMost safe, elect by grace,All tears are wiped for ever from their face:Untired in prayerThey wait and praiseHidden for a little space.
'Boughs of the Living VineThey spread in summer shineGreen leaf with leaf:Sap of the Royal Vine it stirs like wineIn all both less and chief.
'Sing to the Lord,All spirits of all flesh, sing;For He hath not abhorredOur low estate nor scorn'd our offering:Shout to our King.'--
'But Zion said:My Lord forgetteth me.Lo, she hath made her bedIn dust; forsaken weepeth sheWhere alien rivers swell the sea.
'She laid her body as the ground,Her tender body as the ground to thoseWho passed; her harpstrings cannot soundIn a strange land; discrownedShe sits, and drunk with woes.'--
'O drunken not with wine,Whose sins and sorrows have fulfilled the sum,--Be not afraid, arise, be no more dumb;Arise, shine,For thy light is come.'--
'Can these bones live?'--'God knows:The prophet saw such clothed with flesh and skin;A wind blew on them and life entered in;They shook and rose.Hasten the time, O Lord, blot out their sin,Let life begin.'
Words in this poem
- cherubim n.
- The Hebrew plural of Cherub.. Cf. Seraphim.
- seraphim n.
- The Hebrew plural of Seraph. Cf. Cherubim.
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- zion n.
- A hill in Jerusalem, which, after the capture of that city by the Israelites, became the royal residence of David and his successors. [Heb. tsiy, originally, a hill.]
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Dialogue 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 Dialogue, in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-goblin-market/a-dialogue.html, id L04285.
Form and metre
A Dialogue is 64 lines in 12 stanzas. 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.5 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 AABBA landA · standA · lightB · sightB · handA
- 2 AABBB theyA · wayA · starB · farB · areB
- 3 AABCBC cherubimA · seraphimA · loveB · dimC · aboveB · hymnC
- 4 A-BBA cryA · ceaselessly · singB · kingB · iA
- 5 -ABAB paradise · restA · eyesB · breastA · dyesB
- 6 ABBA-B thereA · graceB · faceB · prayerA · praise · spaceB
- 7 AABAB vineA · shineA · leafB · wineA · chiefB
- 8 ABABB lordA · singB · abhorredA · offeringB · kingB
- 9 ABABB saidA · meB · bedA · sheB · seaB
- 10 ABAAB groundA · thoseB · soundA · discrownedA · woesB
- 11 ABBAB wineA · sumB · dumbB · shineA · comeB
- 12 -ABBABB live · knowsA · skinB · inB · roseA · sinB · beginB
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| 'Oh happy happy land! | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Angels like rushes stand | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| About the wells of light.'-- | 6 | ······ |
| 'Alas, I have not eyes for this fair sight: | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Hold fast my hand.'-- | 4 | ···· |
| 'As in a soft wind, they | 6 | ······ |
| Bend all one blessed way, | 5 | ····· |
| Each bowed in his own glory, star with star.'-- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| 'I cannot see so far, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Here shadows are.'-- | 4 | ·/·· |
| 'White-winged the cherubim, | 7 | ··˘·/˘˘ |
| Yet whiter seraphim, | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| Glow white with intense fire of love.'-- | 8 | ···˘//·· |
| 'Mine eyes are dim: | 4 | ···· |
| I look in vain above, | 6 | ······ |
| And miss their hymn.'-- | 4 | ···· |
| 'Angels, Archangels cry | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| One to other ceaselessly | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| (I hear them sing) | 4 | ···· |
| One "Holy, Holy, Holy" to their King.'-- | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| 'I do not hear them, I.'-- | 6 | ······ |
| 'At one side Paradise | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Is curtained from the rest, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Made green for wearied eyes; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Much softer than the breast | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Of mother-dove clad in a rainbow's dyes. | 10 | ·/˘····/·· |
| 'All precious souls are there | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Most safe, elect by grace, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| All tears are wiped for ever from their face: | 9 | ·····/··· |
| Untired in prayer | 4 | ···· |
| They wait and praise | 4 | ···· |
| Hidden for a little space. | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| 'Boughs of the Living Vine | 6 | ···/˘· |
| They spread in summer shine | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Green leaf with leaf: | 4 | ···· |
| Sap of the Royal Vine it stirs like wine | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| In all both less and chief. | 6 | ······ |
| 'Sing to the Lord, | 4 | ···· |
| All spirits of all flesh, sing; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| For He hath not abhorred | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Our low estate nor scorn'd our offering: | 9 | /·˘/··//˘ |
| Shout to our King.'-- | 5 | ··/˘· |
| 'But Zion said: | 4 | ·/˘· |
| My Lord forgetteth me. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Lo, she hath made her bed | 6 | ······ |
| In dust; forsaken weepeth she | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Where alien rivers swell the sea. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| 'She laid her body as the ground, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Her tender body as the ground to those | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Who passed; her harpstrings cannot sound | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In a strange land; discrowned | 7 | ······˘ |
| She sits, and drunk with woes.'-- | 6 | ······ |
| 'O drunken not with wine, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Whose sins and sorrows have fulfilled the sum,-- | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Be not afraid, arise, be no more dumb; | 10 | ··˘/˘/···· |
| Arise, shine, | 3 | ˘/· |
| For thy light is come.'-- | 5 | ····· |
| 'Can these bones live?'-- | 4 | ···· |
| 'God knows: | 2 | ·· |
| The prophet saw such clothed with flesh and skin; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| A wind blew on them and life entered in; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| They shook and rose. | 4 | ···· |
| Hasten the time, O Lord, blot out their sin, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Let life begin.' | 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.