Mother Country
Oh what is that countryAnd where can it be,Not mine own country,But dearer far to me?Yet mine own country,If I one day may seeIts spices and cedars,Its gold and ivory.
As I lie dreamingIt rises, that land:There rises before meIts green golden strand,With its bowing cedarsAnd its shining sand;It sparkles and flashesLike a shaken brand.
Do angels lean nearerWhile I lie and long?I see their soft plumageAnd catch their windy song,Like the rise of a high tideSweeping full and strong;I mark the outskirtsOf their reverend throng.
Oh what is a king here,Or what is a boor?Here all starve together,All dwarfed and poor;Here Death's hand knockethAt door after door,He thins the dancersFrom the festal floor.
Oh what is a handmaid,Or what is a queen?All must lie down togetherWhere the turf is green,The foulest face hidden,The fairest not seen;Gone as if never,They had breathed or been.
Gone from sweet sunshineUnderneath the sod,Turned from warm flesh and bloodTo senseless clod,Gone as if neverThey had toiled or trod,Gone out of sight of allExcept our God.
Shut into silenceFrom the accustomed song,Shut into solitudeFrom all earth's throng,Run down tho' swift of foot,Thrust down tho' strong;Life made an end ofSeemed it short or long.
Life made an end of,Life but just begun,Life finished yesterday,Its last sand run;Life new-born with the morrow,Fresh as the sun:While done is done for ever;Undone, undone.
And if that life is life,This is but a breath,The passage of a dreamAnd the shadow of death;But a vain shadowIf one considereth;Vanity of vanities,As the Preacher saith.
Words in this poem
- reverend a.
- Worthy of reverence; entitled to respect mingled with fear and affection; venerable. [F. révérend, L. reverendus, fr. revereri. See Revere.]
- festal a.
- Of or pertaining to a holiday or a feast; joyous; festive. [L. festum holiday, feast. See feast.]
- handmaid n.
- A maid that waits at hand; a female servant or attendant.
- 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.
- clod n.
- A lump or mass, especially of earth, turf, or clay. [OE. clodde, latter form of clot. See Clot.]
- undone a.
- Not done or performed; neglected. [Pref. un- not + done.]
- saith
- 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Mother Country 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, Mother Country, in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-goblin-market/mother-country.html, id L04352.
Form and metre
Mother Country is 72 lines in 9 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.4 syllables. 22 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 31% 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 ABABAB-- countryA · beB · countryA · meB · countryA · seeB · cedars · ivory
- 2 -A-A-A-A dreaming · landA · me · strandA · cedars · sandA · flashes · brandA
- 3 -A-A-A-A nearer · longA · plumage · songA · tide · strongA · outskirts · throngA
- 4 -A-A-B-B here · boorA · together · poorA · knocketh · doorB · dancers · floorB
- 5 -A-AAA-A handmaid · queenA · together · greenA · hiddenA · seenA · never · beenA
- 6 -A-A-A-A sunshine · sodA · blood · clodA · never · trodA · all · godA
- 7 -A-A-A-A silence · songA · solitude · throngA · foot · strongA · of · longA
- 8 -A-A-A-A of · begunA · yesterday · runA · morrow · sunA · ever · undoneA
- 9 -A-A-A-A life · breathA · dream · deathA · shadow · considerethA · vanities · saithA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oh what is that country | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And where can it be, | 5 | ····· |
| Not mine own country, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| But dearer far to me? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Yet mine own country, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| If I one day may see | 6 | ······ |
| Its spices and cedars, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Its gold and ivory. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| As I lie dreaming | 5 | ···/˘ |
| It rises, that land: | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| There rises before me | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Its green golden strand, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| With its bowing cedars | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| And its shining sand; | 5 | ··/˘· |
| It sparkles and flashes | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Like a shaken brand. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Do angels lean nearer | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| While I lie and long? | 5 | ····· |
| I see their soft plumage | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And catch their windy song, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Like the rise of a high tide | 7 | ······· |
| Sweeping full and strong; | 5 | /˘··· |
| I mark the outskirts | 5 | ···/· |
| Of their reverend throng. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Oh what is a king here, | 6 | ······ |
| Or what is a boor? | 5 | ····· |
| Here all starve together, | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| All dwarfed and poor; | 5 | ··˘·· |
| Here Death's hand knocketh | 5 | ···/˘ |
| At door after door, | 5 | ····· |
| He thins the dancers | 5 | ···/˘ |
| From the festal floor. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Oh what is a handmaid, | 6 | ······ |
| Or what is a queen? | 5 | ····· |
| All must lie down together | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Where the turf is green, | 5 | ····· |
| The foulest face hidden, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| The fairest not seen; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Gone as if never, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| They had breathed or been. | 5 | ····· |
| Gone from sweet sunshine | 5 | ···/· |
| Underneath the sod, | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| Turned from warm flesh and blood | 6 | ······ |
| To senseless clod, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Gone as if never | 5 | ···/˘ |
| They had toiled or trod, | 5 | ····· |
| Gone out of sight of all | 6 | ······ |
| Except our God. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Shut into silence | 5 | ···/˘ |
| From the accustomed song, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Shut into solitude | 6 | ···/˘· |
| From all earth's throng, | 4 | ···· |
| Run down tho' swift of foot, | 6 | ······ |
| Thrust down tho' strong; | 4 | ···· |
| Life made an end of | 5 | ····· |
| Seemed it short or long. | 5 | ····· |
| Life made an end of, | 5 | ····· |
| Life but just begun, | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Life finished yesterday, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Its last sand run; | 4 | ···· |
| Life new-born with the morrow, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Fresh as the sun: | 4 | ···· |
| While done is done for ever; | 6 | ·····/ |
| Undone, undone. | 4 | ˘/˘/ |
| And if that life is life, | 6 | ······ |
| This is but a breath, | 5 | ····· |
| The passage of a dream | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And the shadow of death; | 6 | ··/··· |
| But a vain shadow | 5 | ···/· |
| If one considereth; | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| Vanity of vanities, | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| As the Preacher saith. | 5 | ··/˘· |
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.