Paradise: In a Dream
Once in a dream I saw the flowersThat bud and bloom in Paradise;More fair they are than waking eyesHave seen in all this world of ours.And faint the perfume-bearing rose,And faint the lily on its stem,And faint the perfect violetCompared with them.
I heard the songs of Paradise:Each bird sat singing in his place;A tender song so full of graceIt soared like incense to the skies.Each bird sat singing to his mateSoft cooing notes among the trees:The nightingale herself were coldTo such as these.
I saw the fourfold River flow,And deep it was, with golden sand;It flowed between a mossy landWith murmured music grave and low.It hath refreshment for all thirst,For fainting spirits strength and rest:Earth holds not such a draught as thisFrom east to west.
The Tree of Life stood budding there,Abundant with its twelvefold fruits;Eternal sap sustains its roots,Its shadowing branches fill the air.Its leaves are healing for the world,Its fruit the hungry world can feed,Sweeter than honey to the tasteAnd balm indeed.
I saw the gate called Beautiful;And looked, but scarce could look, within;I saw the golden streets begin,And outskirts of the glassy pool.Oh harps, oh crowns of plenteous stars,Oh green palm-branches many-leaved--Eye hath not seen, nor ear hath heard,Nor heart conceived.
I hope to see these things again,But not as once in dreams by night;To see them with my very sight,And touch, and handle, and attain:To have all Heaven beneath my feetFor narrow way that once they trod;To have my part with all the saints,And with my God.
Words in this poem
- shadowing n.
- Shade, or gradation of light and color; shading. Feltham.
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Paradise: In a Dream 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, Paradise: In a Dream, in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-goblin-market/paradise-in-a-dream.html, id L04364.
Form and metre
Paradise: In a Dream is 48 lines in 6 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 4 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 A-AAAB-B flowersA · paradise · eyesA · oursA · roseA · stemB · violet · themB
- 2 -AA--B-B paradise · placeA · graceA · skies · mate · treesB · cold · theseB
- 3 ABBA-C-C flowA · sandB · landB · lowA · thirst · restC · this · westC
- 4 ABBA-C-C thereA · fruitsB · rootsB · airA · world · feedC · taste · indeedC
- 5 ABBA-C-C beautifulA · withinB · beginB · poolA · stars · leavedC · heard · conceivedC
- 6 ABBA-C-C againA · nightB · sightB · attainA · feet · trodC · saints · godC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Once in a dream I saw the flowers | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| That bud and bloom in Paradise; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| More fair they are than waking eyes | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Have seen in all this world of ours. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And faint the perfume-bearing rose, | 8 | ···˘//˘· |
| And faint the lily on its stem, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And faint the perfect violet | 8 | ···/·/˘˘ |
| Compared with them. | 4 | ˘/·· |
| I heard the songs of Paradise: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Each bird sat singing in his place; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A tender song so full of grace | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| It soared like incense to the skies. | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| Each bird sat singing to his mate | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Soft cooing notes among the trees: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The nightingale herself were cold | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/·· |
| To such as these. | 4 | ···· |
| I saw the fourfold River flow, | 8 | ···///˘· |
| And deep it was, with golden sand; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| It flowed between a mossy land | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With murmured music grave and low. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| It hath refreshment for all thirst, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| For fainting spirits strength and rest: | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Earth holds not such a draught as this | 8 | ········ |
| From east to west. | 4 | ···· |
| The Tree of Life stood budding there, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Abundant with its twelvefold fruits; | 9 | ˘/˘······ |
| Eternal sap sustains its roots, | 8 | ˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Its shadowing branches fill the air. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Its leaves are healing for the world, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Its fruit the hungry world can feed, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Sweeter than honey to the taste | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| And balm indeed. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| I saw the gate called Beautiful; | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| And looked, but scarce could look, within; | 8 | ········ |
| I saw the golden streets begin, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And outskirts of the glassy pool. | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Oh harps, oh crowns of plenteous stars, | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Oh green palm-branches many-leaved-- | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Eye hath not seen, nor ear hath heard, | 8 | ········ |
| Nor heart conceived. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| I hope to see these things again, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| But not as once in dreams by night; | 8 | ········ |
| To see them with my very sight, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And touch, and handle, and attain: | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| To have all Heaven beneath my feet | 8 | ···/···· |
| For narrow way that once they trod; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To have my part with all the saints, | 8 | ········ |
| And with my God. | 4 | ···· |
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