Twice
I took my heart in my hand(O my love, O my love),I said: Let me fall or stand,Let me live or die,But this once hear me speak--(O my love, O my love)--Yet a woman's words are weak;You should speak, not I.
You took my heart in your handWith a friendly smile,With a critical eye you scanned,Then set it down,And said: It is still unripe,Better wait awhile;Wait while the skylarks pipe,Till the corn grows brown.
As you set it down it broke--Broke, but I did not wince;I smiled at the speech you spoke,At your judgement that I heard:But I have not often smiledSince then, nor questioned since,Nor cared for corn-flowers wild,Nor sung with the singing bird.
I take my heart in my hand,O my God, O my God,My broken heart in my hand:Thou hast seen, judge Thou.My hope was written on sand,O my God, O my God:Now let thy judgement stand--Yea, judge me now.
This contemned of a man,This marred one heedless day,This heart take Thou to scanBoth within and without:Refine with fire its gold,Purge thou its dross away--Yea, hold it in Thy hold,Whence none can pluck it out.
I take my heart in my hand--I shall not die, but live--Before Thy face I stand;I, for Thou callest such:All that I have I bring,All that I am I give,Smile Thou and I shall sing,But shall not question much.
Words in this poem
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- scan v. t.
- To mount by steps; to go through with step by step. [L. scandere, scansum, to climb, to scan, akin to Skr. skand to spring, leap: cf. F. scander. Cf. Ascend, Descend, Scale a ladder.]
- 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
Twice 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, Twice, in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-goblin-market/twice.html, id L04303.
Form and metre
Twice is 48 lines in 6 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABACDBDC, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.3 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 8% 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 ABACDBDC handA · loveB · standA · dieC · speakD · loveB · weakD · iC
- 2 ABACDBDC handA · smileB · scannedA · downC · unripeD · awhileB · pipeD · brownC
- 3 ABACDBDC brokeA · winceB · spokeA · heardC · smiledD · sinceB · wildD · birdC
- 4 ABACABAC handA · godB · handA · thouC · sandA · godB · standA · nowC
- 5 ABACDBDC manA · dayB · scanA · withoutC · goldD · awayB · holdD · outC
- 6 ABACDBDC handA · liveB · standA · suchC · bringD · giveB · singD · muchC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I took my heart in my hand | 7 | ······· |
| (O my love, O my love), | 6 | ······ |
| I said: Let me fall or stand, | 7 | ······· |
| Let me live or die, | 5 | ····· |
| But this once hear me speak-- | 6 | ······ |
| (O my love, O my love)-- | 6 | ······ |
| Yet a woman's words are weak; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| You should speak, not I. | 5 | ····· |
| You took my heart in your hand | 7 | ······· |
| With a friendly smile, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| With a critical eye you scanned, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Then set it down, | 4 | ···· |
| And said: It is still unripe, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Better wait awhile; | 5 | /˘·˘/ |
| Wait while the skylarks pipe, | 6 | ···/·· |
| Till the corn grows brown. | 5 | ····· |
| As you set it down it broke-- | 7 | ······· |
| Broke, but I did not wince; | 6 | ······ |
| I smiled at the speech you spoke, | 7 | ······· |
| At your judgement that I heard: | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| But I have not often smiled | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Since then, nor questioned since, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Nor cared for corn-flowers wild, | 6 | ····/· |
| Nor sung with the singing bird. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| I take my heart in my hand, | 7 | ······· |
| O my God, O my God, | 6 | ······ |
| My broken heart in my hand: | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Thou hast seen, judge Thou. | 5 | ····· |
| My hope was written on sand, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| O my God, O my God: | 6 | ······ |
| Now let thy judgement stand-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Yea, judge me now. | 4 | ···· |
| This contemned of a man, | 6 | ······ |
| This marred one heedless day, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| This heart take Thou to scan | 6 | ······ |
| Both within and without: | 6 | ······ |
| Refine with fire its gold, | 6 | ˘/·/·· |
| Purge thou its dross away-- | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Yea, hold it in Thy hold, | 6 | ······ |
| Whence none can pluck it out. | 6 | ······ |
| I take my heart in my hand-- | 7 | ······· |
| I shall not die, but live-- | 6 | ······ |
| Before Thy face I stand; | 6 | ······ |
| I, for Thou callest such: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| All that I have I bring, | 6 | ······ |
| All that I am I give, | 6 | ······ |
| Smile Thou and I shall sing, | 6 | ······ |
| But shall not question much. | 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.