At Home
When I was dead, my spirit turnedTo seek the much-frequented house:I passed the door, and saw my friendsFeasting beneath green orange boughs;From hand to hand they pushed the wine,They sucked the pulp of plum and peach;They sang, they jested, and they laughed,For each was loved of each.
I listened to their honest chat:Said one: 'To-morrow we shall bePlod plod along the featureless sands,And coasting miles and miles of sea.'Said one: 'Before the turn of tideWe will achieve the eyrie-seat.'Said one: 'To-morrow shall be likeTo-day, but much more sweet.'
'To-morrow,' said they, strong with hope,And dwelt upon the pleasant way:'To-morrow,' cried they, one and all,While no one spoke of yesterday.Their life stood full at blessed noon;I, only I, had passed away:'To-morrow and to-day,' they cried;I was of yesterday.
I shivered comfortless, but castNo chill across the tablecloth;I, all-forgotten, shivered, sadTo stay, and yet to part how loth:I passed from the familiar room,I who from love had passed away,Like the remembrance of a guestThat tarrieth but a day.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- plod v. i.
- To travel slowly but steadily; to trudge. [Gf. Gael. plod a clod, a pool; also, to strike or pelt with a clod or clods.]
- featureless a.
- Having no distinct or distinctive features.
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- comfortless a.
- Without comfort or comforts; in want or distress; cheerless.
- tablecloth n.
- A cloth for covering a table, especially one with which a table is covered before the dishes, etc., are set on for meals.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
At Home 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, At Home, in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-goblin-market/at-home.html, id L04240.
Form and metre
At Home is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 25% 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 -----A-A turned · house · friends · boughs · wine · peachA · laughed · eachA
- 2 -A-A-B-B chat · beA · sands · seaA · tide · seatB · like · sweetB
- 3 -A-A-A-A hope · wayA · all · yesterdayA · noon · awayA · cried · yesterdayA
- 4 -----A-A cast · tablecloth · sad · loth · room · awayA · guest · dayA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When I was dead, my spirit turned | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To seek the much-frequented house: | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| I passed the door, and saw my friends | 8 | ········ |
| Feasting beneath green orange boughs; | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| From hand to hand they pushed the wine, | 8 | ········ |
| They sucked the pulp of plum and peach; | 8 | ········ |
| They sang, they jested, and they laughed, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For each was loved of each. | 7 | ····˘·· |
| I listened to their honest chat: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Said one: 'To-morrow we shall be | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Plod plod along the featureless sands, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And coasting miles and miles of sea.' | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Said one: 'Before the turn of tide | 8 | ········ |
| We will achieve the eyrie-seat.' | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Said one: 'To-morrow shall be like | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To-day, but much more sweet.' | 6 | ······ |
| 'To-morrow,' said they, strong with hope, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And dwelt upon the pleasant way: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| 'To-morrow,' cried they, one and all, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| While no one spoke of yesterday. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Their life stood full at blessed noon; | 8 | ······˘· |
| I, only I, had passed away: | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| 'To-morrow and to-day,' they cried; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I was of yesterday. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I shivered comfortless, but cast | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| No chill across the tablecloth; | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| I, all-forgotten, shivered, sad | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| To stay, and yet to part how loth: | 8 | ········ |
| I passed from the familiar room, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| I who from love had passed away, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Like the remembrance of a guest | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| That tarrieth but a day. | 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.