'Consider the Lilies of the Field'
Flowers preach to us if we will hear:--The rose saith in the dewy morn:I am most fair;Yet all my loveliness is bornUpon a thorn.The poppy saith amid the corn:Let but my scarlet head appearAnd I am held in scorn;Yet juice of subtle virtue liesWithin my cup of curious dyes.The lilies say: Behold how wePreach without words of purity.The violets whisper from the shadeWhich their own leaves have made:Men scent our fragrance on the air,Yet take no heedOf humble lessons we would read.But not alone the fairest flowers:The merest grassAlong the roadside where we pass,Lichen and moss and sturdy weed,Tell of His love who sends the dew,The rain and sunshine too,To nourish one small seed.
Words in this poem
- saith
- 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- loveliness n.
- The state or quality of being lovely. [From Lovely.]
- 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]
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
- roadside n.
- Land adjoining a road or highway; the part of a road or highway that borders the traveled part. Also used ajectively.
- 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.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
'Consider the Lilies of the Field' 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, 'Consider the Lilies of the Field', in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-goblin-market/consider-the-lilies-of-the-field.html, id L04288.
Form and metre
'Consider the Lilies of the Field' is 24 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% 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 ABCBBBABDD--EECFF-GGFHHF hearA · mornB · fairC · bornB · thornB · cornB · appearA · scornB · liesD · dyesD · we · purity · shadeE · madeE · airC · heedF · readF · flowers · grassG · passG · weedF · dewH · tooH · seedF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Flowers preach to us if we will hear:-- | 8 | /······· |
| The rose saith in the dewy morn: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I am most fair; | 4 | ···· |
| Yet all my loveliness is born | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Upon a thorn. | 4 | ···· |
| The poppy saith amid the corn: | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Let but my scarlet head appear | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And I am held in scorn; | 6 | ······ |
| Yet juice of subtle virtue lies | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Within my cup of curious dyes. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The lilies say: Behold how we | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Preach without words of purity. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| The violets whisper from the shade | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Which their own leaves have made: | 6 | ······ |
| Men scent our fragrance on the air, | 8 | ··//˘··· |
| Yet take no heed | 4 | ···· |
| Of humble lessons we would read. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| But not alone the fairest flowers: | 9 | ··˘/·/˘/˘ |
| The merest grass | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Along the roadside where we pass, | 8 | ˘/·/···· |
| Lichen and moss and sturdy weed, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Tell of His love who sends the dew, | 8 | ········ |
| The rain and sunshine too, | 6 | ···/·· |
| To nourish one small seed. | 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.