Advent
This Advent moon shines cold and clear,These Advent nights are long;Our lamps have burned year after yearAnd still their flame is strong.'Watchman, what of the night?' we cry,Heart-sick with hope deferred:'No speaking signs are in the sky,'Is still the watchman's word.
The Porter watches at the gate,The servants watch within;The watch is long betimes and late,The prize is slow to win.'Watchman, what of the night?' But stillHis answer sounds the same:'No daybreak tops the utmost hill,Nor pale our lamps of flame.'
One to another hear them speakThe patient virgins wise:'Surely He is not far to seek'--'All night we watch and rise.''The days are evil looking back,The coming days are dim;Yet count we not His promise slack,But watch and wait for Him.'
One with another, soul with soul,They kindle fire from fire:'Friends watch us who have touched the goal.''They urge us, come up higher.''With them shall rest our waysore feet,With them is built our home,With Christ.'--'They sweet, but He most sweet,Sweeter than honeycomb.'
There no more parting, no more pain,The distant ones brought near,The lost so long are found again,Long lost but longer dear:Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard,Nor heart conceived that rest,With them our good things long deferred,With Jesus Christ our Best.
We weep because the night is long,We laugh for day shall rise,We sing a slow contented songAnd knock at Paradise.Weeping we hold Him fast, Who weptFor us, we hold Him fast;And will not let Him go exceptHe bless us first or last.
Weeping we hold Him fast to-night;We will not let Him goTill daybreak smite our wearied sightAnd summer smite the snow:Then figs shall bud, and dove with doveShall coo the livelong day;Then He shall say, 'Arise, My love,My fair one, come away.'
Words in this poem
- betimes adv.
- In good season or time; before it is late; seasonably; early. [Pref. be- (for by) + time; that is, by the proper time. The -s is an adverbial ending.]
- daybreak n.
- The time of the first appearance of light in the morning.
- 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,]
- livelong a.
- Whole; entire; long in passing; -- used of time, as day or night, in adverbial phrases, and usually with a sense of tediousness. [For lifelong. Cf. Lifelong.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Advent 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, Advent, in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-goblin-market/advent.html, id L04280.
Form and metre
Advent is 56 lines in 7 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 6 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 16% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABABCDCD clearA · longB · yearA · strongB · cryC · deferredD · skyC · wordD
- 2 ABABCDCD gateA · withinB · lateA · winB · stillC · sameD · hillC · flameD
- 3 ABABCDCD speakA · wiseB · seekA · riseB · backC · dimD · slackC · himD
- 4 ABABCDCD soulA · fireB · goalA · higherB · feetC · homeD · sweetC · honeycombD
- 5 ABABCDCD painA · nearB · againA · dearB · heardC · restD · deferredC · bestD
- 6 A-A-BCBC longA · rise · songA · paradise · weptB · fastC · exceptB · lastC
- 7 ABABCDCD nightA · goB · sightA · snowB · doveC · dayD · loveC · awayD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| This Advent moon shines cold and clear, | 8 | ·/······ |
| These Advent nights are long; | 6 | ·/···· |
| Our lamps have burned year after year | 8 | /······· |
| And still their flame is strong. | 6 | ······ |
| 'Watchman, what of the night?' we cry, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Heart-sick with hope deferred: | 6 | ····˘/ |
| 'No speaking signs are in the sky,' | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Is still the watchman's word. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The Porter watches at the gate, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The servants watch within; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The watch is long betimes and late, | 8 | ········ |
| The prize is slow to win. | 6 | ······ |
| 'Watchman, what of the night?' But still | 8 | /˘······ |
| His answer sounds the same: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| 'No daybreak tops the utmost hill, | 8 | ·/···/·· |
| Nor pale our lamps of flame.' | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| One to another hear them speak | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| The patient virgins wise: | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| 'Surely He is not far to seek'-- | 8 | /˘······ |
| 'All night we watch and rise.' | 6 | ······ |
| 'The days are evil looking back, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The coming days are dim; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Yet count we not His promise slack, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But watch and wait for Him.' | 6 | ······ |
| One with another, soul with soul, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| They kindle fire from fire: | 8 | ·/˘/˘·/˘ |
| 'Friends watch us who have touched the goal.' | 8 | ········ |
| 'They urge us, come up higher.' | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| 'With them shall rest our waysore feet, | 8 | ····/··· |
| With them is built our home, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| With Christ.'--'They sweet, but He most sweet, | 8 | ········ |
| Sweeter than honeycomb.' | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| There no more parting, no more pain, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The distant ones brought near, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The lost so long are found again, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Long lost but longer dear: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, | 8 | ········ |
| Nor heart conceived that rest, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| With them our good things long deferred, | 8 | ··/···˘/ |
| With Jesus Christ our Best. | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| We weep because the night is long, | 8 | ········ |
| We laugh for day shall rise, | 6 | ······ |
| We sing a slow contented song | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And knock at Paradise. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Weeping we hold Him fast, Who wept | 8 | /˘······ |
| For us, we hold Him fast; | 6 | ······ |
| And will not let Him go except | 8 | ········ |
| He bless us first or last. | 6 | ······ |
| Weeping we hold Him fast to-night; | 8 | /˘······ |
| We will not let Him go | 6 | ······ |
| Till daybreak smite our wearied sight | 8 | ·/··//˘· |
| And summer smite the snow: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Then figs shall bud, and dove with dove | 8 | ········ |
| Shall coo the livelong day; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Then He shall say, 'Arise, My love, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| My fair one, come away.' | 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.