The Weaver of Souls
Who is this unseen messengerFor ever between me and her,Who brings love's precious merchandise,The golden breath, the dew of sighs,And the wild, gentle thoughts that dwellToo fragile for the lips to tell,Each at their birth, to us beforeA heaving of the heart is o'er.Who art thou, unseen messenger?
I think, O Angel of the Lord,You make our hearts to so accordThat those who hear in after hoursMay sigh for love as deep as ours;And seek the magic that can giveAn Eden where the soul may live,Nor need to walk a road of clayWith stumbling feet, nor fall awayFrom thee, O Angel of the Lord.
Words in this poem
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- eden n.
- The garden where Adam and Eve first dwelt; hence, a delightful region or residence. [Heb. eden delight, pleasure; also, a place of pleasure, Eden.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Weaver of Souls is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Divine Vision, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #36913; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: George William Russell, The Weaver of Souls, in The Divine Vision and Other Poems (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36913, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/russell-divine-vision/the-weaver-of-souls.html, id L11544.
Form and metre
The Weaver of Souls is 18 lines in 2 stanzas of 9 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 44% 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-BBCC--A messengerA · her · merchandiseB · sighsB · dwellC · tellC · before · o'er · messengerA
- 2 AABBCCDDA lordA · accordA · hoursB · oursB · giveC · liveC · clayD · awayD · lordA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Who is this unseen messenger | 8 | ···˘//˘˘ |
| For ever between me and her, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Who brings love's precious merchandise, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The golden breath, the dew of sighs, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And the wild, gentle thoughts that dwell | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Too fragile for the lips to tell, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Each at their birth, to us before | 8 | ········ |
| A heaving of the heart is o'er. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Who art thou, unseen messenger? | 8 | ···˘//˘˘ |
| I think, O Angel of the Lord, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| You make our hearts to so accord | 8 | ··/···˘/ |
| That those who hear in after hours | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| May sigh for love as deep as ours; | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And seek the magic that can give | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An Eden where the soul may live, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Nor need to walk a road of clay | 8 | ········ |
| With stumbling feet, nor fall away | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| From thee, O Angel of the Lord. | 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.