Old and New Year Ditties
New Year met me somewhat sad:Old Year leaves me tired,Stripped of favourite things I hadBaulked of much desired:Yet farther on my road to-dayGod willing, farther on my way.
New Year coming on apaceWhat have you to give me?Bring you scathe, or bring you grace,Face me with an honest face;You shall not deceive me:Be it good or ill, be it what you will,It needs shall help me on my road,My rugged way to heaven, please God.
Watch with me, men, women, and children dear,You whom I love, for whom I hope and fear,Watch with me this last vigil of the year.Some hug their business, some their pleasure-scheme;Some seize the vacant hour to sleep or dream;Heart locked in heart some kneel and watch apart.
Watch with me blessed spirits, who delightAll through the holy night to walk in white,Or take your ease after the long-drawn fight.I know not if they watch with me: I knowThey count this eve of resurrection slow,And cry, 'How long?' with urgent utterance strong.
Watch with me Jesus, in my loneliness:Though others say me nay, yet say Thou yes;Though others pass me by, stop Thou to bless.Yea, Thou dost stop with me this vigil night;To-night of pain, to-morrow of delight:I, Love, am Thine; Thou, Lord my God, art mine.
Passing away, saith the World, passing away:Chances, beauty and youth sapped day by day:Thy life never continueth in one stay.Is the eye waxen dim, is the dark hair changing to greyThat hath won neither laurel nor bay?I shall clothe myself in Spring and bud in May:Thou, root-stricken, shalt not rebuild thy decayOn my bosom for aye.Then I answered: Yea.
Passing away, saith my Soul, passing away:With its burden of fear and hope, of labour and play;Hearken what the past doth witness and say:Rust in thy gold, a moth is in thine array,A canker is in thy bud, thy leaf must decay.At midnight, at cockcrow, at morning, one certain dayLo, the Bridegroom shall come and shall not delay:Watch thou and pray.Then I answered: Yea.
Passing away, saith my God, passing away:Winter passeth after the long delay:New grapes on the vine, new figs on the tender spray,Turtle calleth turtle in Heaven's May.Though I tarry wait for Me, trust Me, watch and pray:Arise, come away, night is past and lo it is day,My love, My sister, My spouse, thou shalt hear Me say.Then I answered: Yea.
Words in this poem 15
- apace adv.
- With a quick pace; quick; fast; speedily. [Pref. a- + pace. OE. a pas at a walk, in which a is the article. See Pace.]
- scathe v. t.
- To do harm to; to injure; to damage; to waste; to destroy. [Icel. skatha; akin to AS. sceathan, sceth\'eban, Dan. skade, Sw. skada, D. & G. schaden, OHG. scadon, Goth. skaÞjan.]
- 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,]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- vigil n.
- Abstinence from sleep, whether at a time when sleep is customary or not; the act of keeping awake, or the state of being awake, or the state of being awake; sleeplessness; wakefulness; watch. [OE. vigile, L. vigilia, from vigil awake, watchful, probably akin to E. wake: cf. F. vigile. See Wake, v. i., and cf. Reveille, Surveillance, Vedette, Vegetable]
- kneel v. i.
- To bend the knee; to fall or rest on the knees; -- sometimes with down. [OE. knelen, cneolien; akin to D. knielen, Dan. knæle. See Knee.]
- resurrection n.
- A rising again; the resumption of vigor. [F. résurrection, L. resurrectio, fr. resurgere, resurrectum, to rise again; pref. re- re- + surgere to rise. See Source.]
- loneliness n.
- The condition of being lonely; solitude; seclusion.
- saith
- 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
- stricken p. p.
- Struck; smitten; wounded; as, the stricken deer.
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- rebuild v. t.
- To build again, as something which has been demolished; to construct anew; as, to rebuild a house, a wall, a wharf, or a city.
- cockcrow n.
- The time at which cooks first crow; the early morning.
- 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]
- spouse v. t.
- To wed; to espouse. [See Espouse, and Spouse, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Old and New Year Ditties 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, Old and New Year Ditties, in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-goblin-market/old-and-new-year-ditties.html, id L04293.
Form and metre
Old and New Year Ditties is 58 lines in 8 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 66% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.4 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 ABABCC sadA · tiredB · hadA · desiredB · dayC · wayC
- 2 ABAAB--- apaceA · meB · graceA · faceA · meB · will · road · god
- 3 AAABB- dearA · fearA · yearA · schemeB · dreamB · apart
- 4 AAABB- delightA · whiteA · fightA · knowB · slowB · strong
- 5 AAABB- lonelinessA · yesA · blessA · nightB · delightB · mine
- 6 AAAAAAA-A awayA · dayA · stayA · greyA · bayA · mayA · decayA · aye · yeaA
- 7 AAAAAAAAA awayA · playA · sayA · arrayA · decayA · dayA · delayA · prayA · yeaA
- 8 AAAAAAAA awayA · delayA · sprayA · mayA · prayA · dayA · sayA · yeaA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| New Year met me somewhat sad: | 7 | ····//· |
| Old Year leaves me tired, | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Stripped of favourite things I had | 8 | ········ |
| Baulked of much desired: | 8 | ·˘··˘/˘˘ |
| Yet farther on my road to-day | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| God willing, farther on my way. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| New Year coming on apace | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| What have you to give me? | 6 | ······ |
| Bring you scathe, or bring you grace, | 7 | ······· |
| Face me with an honest face; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| You shall not deceive me: | 6 | ···˘/· |
| Be it good or ill, be it what you will, | 10 | ·········· |
| It needs shall help me on my road, | 8 | ········ |
| My rugged way to heaven, please God. | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| Watch with me, men, women, and children dear, | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| You whom I love, for whom I hope and fear, | 10 | ·········· |
| Watch with me this last vigil of the year. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Some hug their business, some their pleasure-scheme; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Some seize the vacant hour to sleep or dream; | 10 | ···/˘/···· |
| Heart locked in heart some kneel and watch apart. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Watch with me blessed spirits, who delight | 9 | ····/˘·˘/ |
| All through the holy night to walk in white, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Or take your ease after the long-drawn fight. | 10 | ·········· |
| I know not if they watch with me: I know | 10 | ·········· |
| They count this eve of resurrection slow, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| And cry, 'How long?' with urgent utterance strong. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Watch with me Jesus, in my loneliness: | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Though others say me nay, yet say Thou yes; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Though others pass me by, stop Thou to bless. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Yea, Thou dost stop with me this vigil night; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| To-night of pain, to-morrow of delight: | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| I, Love, am Thine; Thou, Lord my God, art mine. | 10 | ·········· |
| Passing away, saith the World, passing away: | 11 | /˘˘/···/˘˘/ |
| Chances, beauty and youth sapped day by day: | 10 | /˘/˘······ |
| Thy life never continueth in one stay. | 9 | ··/˘/˘··· |
| Is the eye waxen dim, is the dark hair changing to grey | 14 | ···/˘·····/˘·· |
| That hath won neither laurel nor bay? | 9 | ···/˘/˘·· |
| I shall clothe myself in Spring and bud in May: | 11 | ····/······ |
| Thou, root-stricken, shalt not rebuild thy decay | 11 | ··/˘··˘/·˘/ |
| On my bosom for aye. | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Then I answered: Yea. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Passing away, saith my Soul, passing away: | 11 | /˘˘/···/˘˘/ |
| With its burden of fear and hope, of labour and play; | 13 | ··/˘·····/··· |
| Hearken what the past doth witness and say: | 10 | /˘····/˘·· |
| Rust in thy gold, a moth is in thine array, | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| A canker is in thy bud, thy leaf must decay. | 12 | ·/˘·······˘/ |
| At midnight, at cockcrow, at morning, one certain day | 13 | ·/·····/˘·/˘· |
| Lo, the Bridegroom shall come and shall not delay: | 11 | ··/······˘/ |
| Watch thou and pray. | 4 | ···· |
| Then I answered: Yea. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Passing away, saith my God, passing away: | 11 | /˘˘/···/˘˘/ |
| Winter passeth after the long delay: | 10 | /˘/˘····˘/ |
| New grapes on the vine, new figs on the tender spray, | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| Turtle calleth turtle in Heaven's May. | 10 | /˘/˘/˘·/˘· |
| Though I tarry wait for Me, trust Me, watch and pray: | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| Arise, come away, night is past and lo it is day, | 13 | ˘/·˘/········ |
| My love, My sister, My spouse, thou shalt hear Me say. | 12 | ···/˘······· |
| Then I answered: Yea. | 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.