One Day
I will tell you when they met:In the limpid days of Spring;Elder boughs were budding yet,Oaken boughs looked wintry still,But primrose and veined violetIn the mossful turf were set,While meeting birds made haste to singAnd build with right good will.
I will tell you when they parted:When plenteous Autumn sheaves were brown,Then they parted heavy-hearted;The full rejoicing sun looked downAs grand as in the days before;Only they had lost a crown;Only to them those days of yoreCould come back nevermore.
When shall they meet? I cannot tell,Indeed, when they shall meet again,Except some day in Paradise:For this they wait, one waits in pain.Beyond the sea of death love liesFor ever, yesterday, to-day;Angels shall ask them, 'Is it well?'And they shall answer, 'Yea.'
Words in this poem
- oaken a.
- Made or consisting of oaks or of the wood of oaks. [AS. acen.]
- wintry a.
- Suitable to winter; resembling winter, or what belongs to winter; brumal; hyemal; cold; stormy; wintery. [AS. wintrig.]
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- nevermore adv.
- Never again; at no time hereafter. Testament of Love. Tyndale.
- 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
One Day 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, One Day, in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-goblin-market/one-day.html, id L04307.
Form and metre
One Day is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABACAABC metA · springB · yetA · stillC · violetA · setA · singB · willC
- 2 ABABCBCC partedA · brownB · heartedA · downB · beforeC · crownB · yoreC · nevermoreC
- 3 AB-B-CAC tellA · againB · paradise · painB · lies · dayC · wellA · yeaC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I will tell you when they met: | 7 | ······· |
| In the limpid days of Spring; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Elder boughs were budding yet, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Oaken boughs looked wintry still, | 8 | /˘··˘/˘· |
| But primrose and veined violet | 8 | ·/···/˘˘ |
| In the mossful turf were set, | 7 | ······· |
| While meeting birds made haste to sing | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And build with right good will. | 6 | ······ |
| I will tell you when they parted: | 8 | ······/˘ |
| When plenteous Autumn sheaves were brown, | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘··· |
| Then they parted heavy-hearted; | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| The full rejoicing sun looked down | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| As grand as in the days before; | 8 | ········ |
| Only they had lost a crown; | 7 | /˘····· |
| Only to them those days of yore | 8 | /˘······ |
| Could come back nevermore. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| When shall they meet? I cannot tell, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Indeed, when they shall meet again, | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| Except some day in Paradise: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For this they wait, one waits in pain. | 8 | ········ |
| Beyond the sea of death love lies | 8 | ········ |
| For ever, yesterday, to-day; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Angels shall ask them, 'Is it well?' | 8 | /˘······ |
| And they shall answer, 'Yea.' | 6 | ···/˘· |
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.