Laurel · Christina Rossetti · Goblin Market and Other Poems

Last Night

iambic pentameter · 36 lines · from Goblin Market and Other Poems

Where were you last night? I watched at the gate;I went down early, I stayed down late.Were you snug at home, I should like to know,Or were you in the coppice wheedling Kate?

She's a fine girl, with a fine clear skin;Easy to woo, perhaps not hard to win.Speak up like a man and tell me the truth:I'm not one to grow downhearted and thin.

If you love her best speak up like a man;It's not I will stand in the light of your plan:Some girls might cry and scold you a bit,And say they couldn't bear it; but I can.

Love was pleasant enough, and the days went fast;Pleasant while it lasted, but it needn't last;Awhile on the wax and awhile on the wane,Now dropped away into the past.

Was it pleasant to you? To me it was;Now clean gone as an image from glass,As a goodly rainbow that fades away,As dew that steams upward from the grass,

As the first spring day, or the last summer day,As the sunset flush that leaves heaven grey,As a flame burnt out for lack of oil,Which no pains relight or ever may.

Good luck to Kate and good luck to you:I guess she'll be kind when you come to woo.I wish her a pretty face that will last,I wish her a husband steady and true.

Hate you? not I, my very good friend;All things begin and all have an end.But let broken be broken; I put no faithIn quacks who set up to patch and mend.

Just my love and one word to Kate:Not to let time slip if she means to mate;--For even such a thing has been knownAs to miss the chance while we weigh and wait.

Words in this poem

went n.: Course; way; path; journey; direction.
stayed a.: Staid; fixed; settled; sober; -- now written staid. See Staid.
coppice n.: A grove of small growth; a thicket of brushwood; a wood cut at certain times for fuel or other purposes. See Copse. [OF. copeiz, fr. coper, couper, to cut, F. couper, fr. cop, coup, colp, a blow, F. coup, L. colaphus, fr. G. Copse, and cf. Coup, Coupee.]
kate n.: The brambling finch.
downhearted a.: Dejected; low-spirited.
awhile adv.: For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
goodly a.: Pleasant; agreeable; desirable. [OE. godlich, AS. g. See Good, and Like.]
relight v. t.: To light or kindle anew.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Last Night 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, Last Night, in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-goblin-market/last-night.html, id L04348.

Form and metre

Last Night is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.6 syllables. 6% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

See other poems in iambic pentameter.

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 AA-A gate^A · late^A · know · kate^A
2 AA-A skin^A · win^A · truth · thin^A
3 AA-A man^A · plan^A · bit · can^A
4 AA-A fast^A · last^A · wane · past^A
5 -A-A was · glass^A · away · grass^A
6 AA-A day^A · grey^A · oil · may^A
7 AA-A you^A · woo^A · last · true^A
8 AA-A friend^A · end^A · faith · mend^A
9 AA-A kate^A · mate^A · known · wait^A

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 pentameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
Where were you last night? I watched at the gate;	10	··········
I went down early, I stayed down late.	10	···/˘··˘··
Were you snug at home, I should like to know,	10	··········
Or were you in the coppice wheedling Kate?	10	·····/˘···
She's a fine girl, with a fine clear skin;	9	·········
Easy to woo, perhaps not hard to win.	10	/˘··˘/····
Speak up like a man and tell me the truth:	10	··········
I'm not one to grow downhearted and thin.	9	·····/˘··
If you love her best speak up like a man;	10	··········
It's not I will stand in the light of your plan:	11	···········
Some girls might cry and scold you a bit,	9	·········
And say they couldn't bear it; but I can.	10	···/˘·····
Love was pleasant enough, and the days went fast;	11	··/˘˘/·····
Pleasant while it lasted, but it needn't last;	11	/˘··/˘··/˘·
Awhile on the wax and awhile on the wane,	11	˘/····˘/···
Now dropped away into the past.	9	··˘˘/····
Was it pleasant to you? To me it was;	10	··/˘······
Now clean gone as an image from glass,	9	·····/˘··
As a goodly rainbow that fades away,	10	··/˘/···˘/
As dew that steams upward from the grass,	9	····/˘···
As the first spring day, or the last summer day,	11	········/˘·
As the sunset flush that leaves heaven grey,	10	··/····/˘·
As a flame burnt out for lack of oil,	9	·········
Which no pains relight or ever may.	9	···˘/·/˘·
Good luck to Kate and good luck to you:	9	·········
I guess she'll be kind when you come to woo.	10	··········
I wish her a pretty face that will last,	10	····/˘····
I wish her a husband steady and true.	10	····/˘/˘··
Hate you? not I, my very good friend;	9	·····/˘··
All things begin and all have an end.	9	··˘/·····
But let broken be broken; I put no faith	11	··/˘·/˘····
In quacks who set up to patch and mend.	9	·········
Just my love and one word to Kate:	8	········
Not to let time slip if she means to mate;--	10	··········
For even such a thing has been known	9	·/˘······
As to miss the chance while we weigh and wait.	10	··········

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.

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