Miscellaneous Poems, 1848-69
Death's Chill BetweenHeart's Chill BetweenRepiningSit Down in the Lowest RoomMy FriendLast NightConsiderHelen Grey'By the Waters of Babylon'SeasonsMother CountryA Smile and a SighDead HopeAutumn Violets'They Desire a Better Country'The Offering of the New LawConference between Christ, the Saints, and the Soul'Come unto Me''Jesus, do I Love Thee?''I know you not''Before the Paling of the Stars'Easter EvenParadise: in a DreamWithin the VeilParadise: in a SymbolAmor MundiWho shall deliver Me?IfTwilight Night
Words in this poem
- paling n.
- Pales, in general; a fence formed with pales or pickets; a limit; 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Miscellaneous Poems, 1848-69 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, Miscellaneous Poems, 1848-69, in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-goblin-market/miscellaneous-poems-1848-69.html, id L04236.
Form and metre
Miscellaneous Poems, 1848-69 is 29 lines in a single stanza. 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 4.8 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 76% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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---B----C---C--DD----EE-D-B betweenA · betweenA · repining · room · friend · nightB · consider · grey · babylon · seasons · countryC · sigh · hope · violets · countryC · law · soul · meD · theeD · not · stars · even · dream · veilE · symbolE · mundi · meD · if · nightB
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Death's Chill Between | 4 | ···· |
| Heart's Chill Between | 4 | ···· |
| Repining | 3 | ··· |
| Sit Down in the Lowest Room | 7 | ····/˘· |
| My Friend | 2 | ·· |
| Last Night | 2 | ·· |
| Consider | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| Helen Grey | 3 | /˘· |
| 'By the Waters of Babylon' | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Seasons | 2 | /˘ |
| Mother Country | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| A Smile and a Sigh | 5 | ····· |
| Dead Hope | 2 | ·· |
| Autumn Violets | 5 | /˘/˘˘ |
| 'They Desire a Better Country' | 9 | ·˘/˘·/˘/˘ |
| The Offering of the New Law | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Conference between Christ, the Saints, and the Soul | 10 | /˘········ |
| 'Come unto Me' | 4 | ···· |
| 'Jesus, do I Love Thee?' | 6 | /˘···· |
| 'I know you not' | 4 | ···· |
| 'Before the Paling of the Stars' | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Easter Even | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Paradise: in a Dream | 6 | /˘···· |
| Within the Veil | 4 | ···· |
| Paradise: in a Symbol | 7 | /˘···/˘ |
| Amor Mundi | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Who shall deliver Me? | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| If | 1 | · |
| Twilight Night | 3 | /·· |
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.