I Know You Not
O Christ, the Vine with living Fruit,The twelvefold-fruited Tree of Life,The Balm in Gilead after strife,The valley Lily and the Rose;Stronger than Lebanon, Thou Root;Sweeter than clustered grapes, Thou Vine;O Best, Thou Vineyard of red wine,Keeping thy best wine till the close.
Pearl of great price Thyself alone,And ruddier than the ruby Thou;Most precious lightning Jasper stone,Head of the corner spurned before:Fair Gate of pearl, Thyself the Door;Clear golden Street, Thyself the Way;By Thee we journey toward Thee now,Through Thee shall enter Heaven one day.
I thirst for Thee, full fount and flood;My heart calls Thine, as deep to deep:Dost Thou forget Thy sweat and pain,They provocation on the Cross?Heart-pierced for me, vouchsafe to keepThe purchase of Thy lavished Blood:The gain is Thine, Lord, if I gain;Or if I lose, Thine own the loss.
At midnight (saith the Parable)A cry was made, the Bridegroom came;Those who were ready entered in:The rest, shut out in death and shame,Strove all too late that Feast to win,Their die was cast, and fixed their lot;A gulf divided Heaven from Hell;The Bridegroom said--I know you not.
But Who is this that shuts the door,And saith--I know you not--to them?I see the wounded hands and side,The brow thorn-tortured long ago:Yea; This Who grieved and bled and died,This same is He Who must condemn;He called, but they refused to know;So now He hears their cry no more.
Words in this poem
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- vineyard n.
- An inclosure or yard for grapevines; a plantation of vines producing grapes. [For OE. winyard, AS. wingeard; influenced by E. vine. See Wine, and Yard an inclosure.]
- 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,]
- vouchsafe v. t.
- To condescend to grant; to concede; to bestow. [Vouch + safe, that is, to vouch or answer for safety.]
- saith
- 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
- 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]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
I Know You Not 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, I Know You Not, in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-goblin-market/i-know-you-not.html, id L04361.
Form and metre
I Know You Not is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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 ABBCADDC fruitA · lifeB · strifeB · roseC · rootA · vineD · wineD · closeC
- 2 ABACCDBD aloneA · thouB · stoneA · beforeC · doorC · wayD · nowB · dayD
- 3 ABCDBACD floodA · deepB · painC · crossD · keepB · bloodA · gainC · lossD
- 4 -ABABC-C parable · cameA · inB · shameA · winB · lotC · hell · notC
- 5 ABCDCBDA doorA · themB · sideC · agoD · diedC · condemnB · knowD · moreA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O Christ, the Vine with living Fruit, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The twelvefold-fruited Tree of Life, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| The Balm in Gilead after strife, | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| The valley Lily and the Rose; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Stronger than Lebanon, Thou Root; | 8 | /˘·/˘˘·· |
| Sweeter than clustered grapes, Thou Vine; | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| O Best, Thou Vineyard of red wine, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Keeping thy best wine till the close. | 8 | /˘······ |
| Pearl of great price Thyself alone, | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| And ruddier than the ruby Thou; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Most precious lightning Jasper stone, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Head of the corner spurned before: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Fair Gate of pearl, Thyself the Door; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Clear golden Street, Thyself the Way; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| By Thee we journey toward Thee now, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Through Thee shall enter Heaven one day. | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| I thirst for Thee, full fount and flood; | 8 | ········ |
| My heart calls Thine, as deep to deep: | 8 | ········ |
| Dost Thou forget Thy sweat and pain, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| They provocation on the Cross? | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Heart-pierced for me, vouchsafe to keep | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| The purchase of Thy lavished Blood: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The gain is Thine, Lord, if I gain; | 8 | ········ |
| Or if I lose, Thine own the loss. | 8 | ········ |
| At midnight (saith the Parable) | 8 | ·/···/˘˘ |
| A cry was made, the Bridegroom came; | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Those who were ready entered in: | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The rest, shut out in death and shame, | 8 | ········ |
| Strove all too late that Feast to win, | 8 | ········ |
| Their die was cast, and fixed their lot; | 8 | ········ |
| A gulf divided Heaven from Hell; | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| The Bridegroom said--I know you not. | 8 | ·/······ |
| But Who is this that shuts the door, | 8 | ········ |
| And saith--I know you not--to them? | 8 | ········ |
| I see the wounded hands and side, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The brow thorn-tortured long ago: | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Yea; This Who grieved and bled and died, | 8 | ········ |
| This same is He Who must condemn; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| He called, but they refused to know; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| So now He hears their cry no more. | 8 | ········ |
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.