The Devil
'Thou drinkest deep.''When Christ would supHe drained the dregs from out my cup:So how should I be lifted up?'
'Thou shalt win Glory.''In the skies,Lord Jesus, cover up mine eyesLest they should look on vanities.'
'Thou shalt have Knowledge.''Helpless dust!In Thee, O Lord, I put my trust:Answer Thou for me, Wise and Just.'
'And Might.'--'Get thee behind me. Lord,Who hast redeemed and not abhorredMy soul, oh keep it by Thy Word.'
Words in this poem
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Devil 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, The Devil, in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-goblin-market/the-devil.html, id L04283.
Form and metre
The Devil is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.0 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 -AAA deep · supA · cupA · upA
- 2 -AAA glory · skiesA · eyesA · vanitiesA
- 3 -AAA knowledge · dustA · trustA · justA
- 4 -AA- might · lordA · abhorredA · word
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 'Thou drinkest deep.' | 4 | ·/˘· |
| 'When Christ would sup | 4 | ···· |
| He drained the dregs from out my cup: | 8 | ········ |
| So how should I be lifted up?' | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| 'Thou shalt win Glory.' | 5 | ···/˘ |
| 'In the skies, | 3 | ··· |
| Lord Jesus, cover up mine eyes | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Lest they should look on vanities.' | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| 'Thou shalt have Knowledge.' | 5 | ···/˘ |
| 'Helpless dust! | 3 | /˘· |
| In Thee, O Lord, I put my trust: | 8 | ········ |
| Answer Thou for me, Wise and Just.' | 8 | /˘······ |
| 'And Might.'-- | 2 | ·· |
| 'Get thee behind me. Lord, | 6 | ······ |
| Who hast redeemed and not abhorred | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| My soul, oh keep it by Thy Word.' | 8 | ········ |
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.