The Choice II
Watch thou and fear; to-morrow thou shalt die.Or art thou sure thou shalt have time for death?Is not the day which God's word promisethTo come man knows not when? In yonder sky,Now while we speak, the sun speeds forth: can IOr thou assure him of his goal? God's breathEven at the moment haply quickenethThe air to a flame; till spirits, always nighThough screened and hid, shall walk the daylight here.
And dost thou prate of all that man shall do?Canst thou, who hast but plagues, presume to beGlad in his gladness that comes after thee?Will his strength slay thy worm in Hell? Go to:Cover thy countenance, and watch, and fear.
Think thou and act; to-morrow thou shalt die.Outstretched in the sun's warmth upon the shore,Thou say'st: 'Man's measured path is all gone o'er:Up all his years, steeply, with strain and sigh,Man clomb until he touched the truth; and I,Even I, am he whom it was destined for.'How should this be? Art thou then so much moreThan they who sowed, that thou shouldst reap thereby?
Nay, come up hither. From this wave-washed moundUnto the furthest flood-brim look with me;Then reach on with thy thought till it be drown'd.Miles and miles distant though the grey line be,And though thy soul sail leagues and leagues beyond,--Still, leagues beyond those leagues there is more sea.
Words in this poem
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- 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,]
- daylight n.
- The light of day as opposed to the darkness of night; the light of the sun, as opposed to that of the moon or to artificial light.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- presume v. t.
- To assume or take beforehand; esp., to do or undertake without leave or authority previously obtained. [F. présumer, L. praesumere, praesumptum; prae before + sumere to take. See Assume, Redeem.]
- steeply adv.
- In a steep manner; with steepness; with precipitous declivity.
- reap n.
- A bundle of grain; a handful of grain laid down by the reaper as it is cut. Wright. [Cf. AS. rip harvest. See Reap, v.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Choice II is in the public domain. This text is taken from The House of Life, Project Gutenberg ebook #3692; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The Choice II, in The House of Life (1881), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3692, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-house-of-life/the-choice-ii.html, id L20989.
Form and metre
The Choice II is 28 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
See 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 ABBAABBA- dieA · deathB · promisethB · skyA · iA · breathB · quickenethB · nighA · here
- 2 ABBA- doA · beB · theeB · toA · fear
- 3 AB-AABBA dieA · shoreB · o'er · sighA · iA · forB · moreB · therebyA
- 4 ABAB-B moundA · meB · drown'dA · beB · beyond · seaB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Watch thou and fear; to-morrow thou shalt die. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Or art thou sure thou shalt have time for death? | 10 | ·········· |
| Is not the day which God's word promiseth | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| To come man knows not when? In yonder sky, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Now while we speak, the sun speeds forth: can I | 10 | ·········· |
| Or thou assure him of his goal? God's breath | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Even at the moment haply quickeneth | 11 | /˘··/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| The air to a flame; till spirits, always nigh | 11 | ······/˘/·· |
| Though screened and hid, shall walk the daylight here. | 10 | ·······/·· |
| And dost thou prate of all that man shall do? | 10 | ·········· |
| Canst thou, who hast but plagues, presume to be | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Glad in his gladness that comes after thee? | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Will his strength slay thy worm in Hell? Go to: | 10 | ·········· |
| Cover thy countenance, and watch, and fear. | 10 | /˘·/˘˘···· |
| Think thou and act; to-morrow thou shalt die. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Outstretched in the sun's warmth upon the shore, | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Thou say'st: 'Man's measured path is all gone o'er: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Up all his years, steeply, with strain and sigh, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Man clomb until he touched the truth; and I, | 10 | ·········· |
| Even I, am he whom it was destined for.' | 10 | /······/˘· |
| How should this be? Art thou then so much more | 10 | ·········· |
| Than they who sowed, that thou shouldst reap thereby? | 10 | ·········· |
| Nay, come up hither. From this wave-washed mound | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Unto the furthest flood-brim look with me; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Then reach on with thy thought till it be drown'd. | 10 | ·········· |
| Miles and miles distant though the grey line be, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And though thy soul sail leagues and leagues beyond,-- | 10 | ·········· |
| Still, leagues beyond those leagues there is more sea. | 10 | ·········· |
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.