A Portrait II
They knelt in silent anguish by her bed,And could not weep; but calmly there she lay.All pain had left her; and the sun's last rayShone through upon her, warming into redThe shady curtains. In her heart she said:'Heaven opens; I leave these and go away;The Bridegroom calls,--shall the Bride seek to stay?'Then low upon her breast she bowed her head.O lily flower, O gem of priceless worth,O dove with patient voice and patient eyes,O fruitful vine amid a land of dearth,O maid replete with loving purities,Thou bowedst down thy head with friends on earthTo raise it with the saints in Paradise.
Words in this poem
- bridegroom n.
- A man newly married, or just about to be married. [OE. bridegome, brudgume, AS. br (akin to OS. br, D. bruidegom, bruigom, OHG. pr, MHG. briutegome, G. bräutigam); AS. br bride + guma man, akin to Goth. guma, Ic]
- 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,]
- priceless a.
- Too valuable to admit of being appraised; of inestimable worth; invaluable.
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- dearth n.
- Scarcity which renders dear; want; lack; specifically, lack of food on account of failure of crops; famine. [OE. derthe, fr. dere. See Dear.]
- replete a.
- Filled again; completely filled; full; charged; abounding. [L. repletus, p. p. of replere to fill again, fill up; pref. re- re- + plere to fill, akin to plenus full: cf. F. replet corpulent. See Plenty, Replenish.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Portrait II 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 Portrait II, in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-goblin-market/a-portrait-ii.html, id L04301.
Form and metre
A Portrait II is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 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 ABBAABBACDCDC- bedA · layB · rayB · redA · saidA · awayB · stayB · headA · worthC · eyesD · dearthC · puritiesD · earthC · paradise
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 |
|---|---|---|
| They knelt in silent anguish by her bed, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And could not weep; but calmly there she lay. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| All pain had left her; and the sun's last ray | 10 | ·········· |
| Shone through upon her, warming into red | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The shady curtains. In her heart she said: | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| 'Heaven opens; I leave these and go away; | 10 | //˘·····˘/ |
| The Bridegroom calls,--shall the Bride seek to stay?' | 10 | ·/········ |
| Then low upon her breast she bowed her head. | 10 | ·········· |
| O lily flower, O gem of priceless worth, | 10 | ·/˘/···/˘· |
| O dove with patient voice and patient eyes, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| O fruitful vine amid a land of dearth, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| O maid replete with loving purities, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘/˘˘ |
| Thou bowedst down thy head with friends on earth | 10 | ·········· |
| To raise it with the saints in Paradise. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
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.