Conference Between Christ, the Saints, and the Soul
I am pale with sick desire,For my heart is far awayFrom this world's fitful fireAnd this world's waning day;In a dream it overleapsA world of tedious illsTo where the sunshine sleepsOn th' everlasting hills.Say the Saints--There Angels ease usGlorified and white.They say--We rest in Jesus,Where is not day nor night.
My Soul saith--I have soughtFor a home that is not gained,I have spent yet nothing bought,Have laboured but not attained;My pride strove to rise and grow,And hath but dwindled down;My love sought love, and lo!Hath not attained its crown.Say the Saints--Fresh Souls increase us,None languish nor recede.They say--We love our Jesus,And He loves us indeed.
I cannot rise above,I cannot rest beneath,I cannot find out Love,Nor escape from Death;Dear hopes and joys gone byStill mock me with a name;My best beloved dieAnd I cannot die with them.Say the Saints--No deaths decrease us,Where our rest is glorious.They say--We live in Jesus,Who once died for us.
Oh, my Soul, she beats her wingsAnd pants to fly awayUp to immortal ThingsIn the Heavenly day:Yet she flags and almost faints;Can such be meant for me?Come and see--say the Saints.Saith Jesus--Come and see.Say the Saints--His Pleasures please usBefore God and the Lamb.Come and taste My Sweets--saith Jesus--Be with Me where I am.
Words in this poem
- fitful a.
- Full of fits; irregularly variable; impulsive and unstable. [From 7th Fit.]
- waning n.
- The act or process of waning, or decreasing.
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- saith
- 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
- laboured a.
- Bearing marks of labor and effort; elaborately wrought; not easy or natural; as, labored poetry; a labored style.
- languish v. i.
- To cause to dr Shak.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Conference Between Christ, the Saints, and the Soul 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, Conference Between Christ, the Saints, and the Soul, in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-goblin-market/conference-between-christ-the-saints-and-the-soul.html, id L04358.
Form and metre
Conference Between Christ, the Saints, and the Soul is 48 lines in 4 stanzas of 12 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCDEFEF, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.6 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 27% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 ABABCDCDEFEF desireA · awayB · fireA · dayB · overleapsC · illsD · sleepsC · hillsD · usE · whiteF · jesusE · nightF
- 2 ABABCDCDEFEF soughtA · gainedB · boughtA · attainedB · growC · downD · loC · crownD · usE · recedeF · jesusE · indeedF
- 3 A-A-B-B-CCCC aboveA · beneath · loveA · death · byB · name · dieB · them · usC · gloriousC · jesusC · usC
- 4 ABAB-C-CDEDE wingsA · awayB · thingsA · dayB · faints · meC · saints · seeC · usD · lambE · jesusD · amE
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I am pale with sick desire, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| For my heart is far away | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| From this world's fitful fire | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| And this world's waning day; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In a dream it overleaps | 7 | ······· |
| A world of tedious ills | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| To where the sunshine sleeps | 6 | ···/·· |
| On th' everlasting hills. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Say the Saints--There Angels ease us | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Glorified and white. | 5 | /˘··· |
| They say--We rest in Jesus, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Where is not day nor night. | 6 | ······ |
| My Soul saith--I have sought | 6 | ······ |
| For a home that is not gained, | 8 | ·······˘ |
| I have spent yet nothing bought, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Have laboured but not attained; | 8 | ·/˘˘··˘/ |
| My pride strove to rise and grow, | 7 | ······· |
| And hath but dwindled down; | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| My love sought love, and lo! | 6 | ······ |
| Hath not attained its crown. | 7 | ··˘/˘·· |
| Say the Saints--Fresh Souls increase us, | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| None languish nor recede. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| They say--We love our Jesus, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| And He loves us indeed. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| I cannot rise above, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I cannot rest beneath, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I cannot find out Love, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Nor escape from Death; | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| Dear hopes and joys gone by | 6 | ······ |
| Still mock me with a name; | 6 | ······ |
| My best beloved die | 5 | ··˘/· |
| And I cannot die with them. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Say the Saints--No deaths decrease us, | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| Where our rest is glorious. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| They say--We live in Jesus, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Who once died for us. | 5 | ····· |
| Oh, my Soul, she beats her wings | 7 | ······· |
| And pants to fly away | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Up to immortal Things | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| In the Heavenly day: | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| Yet she flags and almost faints; | 7 | ····/·· |
| Can such be meant for me? | 6 | ······ |
| Come and see--say the Saints. | 6 | ······ |
| Saith Jesus--Come and see. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Say the Saints--His Pleasures please us | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Before God and the Lamb. | 6 | ······ |
| Come and taste My Sweets--saith Jesus-- | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Be with Me where I am. | 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.