Knocking
KNOCKING, knocking, ever knocking?Who is there?'Tis a pilgrim, strange and kingly,Never such was seen before;--Ah, sweet soul, for such a wonderUndo the door.
No,--that door is hard to open;Hinges rusty, latch is broken;Bid Him go.Wherefore, with that knocking drearyScare the sleep from one so weary?Say Him,--no.
Knocking, knocking, ever knocking?What! Still there?O, sweet soul, but once behold Him,With the glory-crownéd hair;And those eyes, so strange and tender,Waiting there;Open! Open! Once behold Him,--Him, so fair.
Ah, that door! Why wilt Thou vex me,Coming ever to perplex me?For the key is stiffly rusty,And the bolt is clogged and dusty;Many-fingered ivy-vineSeals it fast with twist and twine;Weeds of years and years beforeChoke the passage of that door.
Knocking! knocking! What! still knocking?He still there?What's the hour? The night is waning,--In my heart a drear complaining,And a chilly, sad unrest!Ah, this knocking! It disturbs me,Scares my sleep with dreams unblest!Give me rest,Rest,--ah, rest!
Rest, dear soul, He longs to give thee;Thou hast only dreamed of pleasure,Dreamed of gifts and golden treasure,Dreamed of jewels in thy keeping,Waked to weariness of weeping;--Open to thy soul's one Lover,And thy night of dreams is over,--The true gifts He brings have seemingMore than all thy faded dreaming!
Did she open? Doth she? Will she?So, as wondering we behold,Grows the picture to a sign,Pressed upon your soul and mine;For in every breast that livethIs that strange mysterious door;--Though forsaken and betangled,Ivy-gnarled and weed-bejangled,Dusty, rusty, and forgotten;--There the piercéd hand still knocketh,And with ever-patient watching,With the sad eyes true and tender,With the glory-crownéd hair,--Still a God is waiting there.
Words in this poem
- latch v. t.
- To smear; to anoint. [Cf. F. lécher to lick (of German origin). Cf. Lick.]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- scare v. t.
- To frighten; to strike with sudden fear; to alarm. [OE. skerren, skeren, Icel. skirra to bar, prevent, skirrask to shun , shrink from; or fr. OE. skerre, adj., scared, Icel. skjarr; both perhaps akin to E. sheer ]
- stiffly adv.
- In a stiff manner.
- waning n.
- The act or process of waning, or decreasing.
- drear n.
- Sadness; dismalness.
- unrest n.
- Want of rest or repose; unquietness; sleeplessness; uneasiness; disquietude.
- unblest a.
- Not blest; excluded from benediction; hence, accursed; wretched. [Pref. un- not + blessed, blest.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Knocking is in the public domain. This text is taken from Religious Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #44778; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Harriet Beecher Stowe, Knocking, in Religious Poems (1867), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #44778, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/stowe-religious-poems/knocking.html, id L22706.
Form and metre
Knocking is 60 lines in 7 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in trochaic 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-A knocking · there · kingly · beforeA · wonder · doorA
- 2 --ABBA open · broken · goA · drearyB · wearyB · noA
- 3 -ABA-ABA knocking · thereA · himB · hairA · tender · thereA · himB · fairA
- 4 AABBCCDD meA · meA · rustyB · dustyB · vineC · twineC · beforeD · doorD
- 5 --AAB-BBB knocking · there · waningA · complainingA · unrestB · me · unblestB · restB · restB
- 6 -AABB--CC thee · pleasureA · treasureA · keepingB · weepingB · lover · over · seemingC · dreamingC
- 7 --AA--BB----CC she · behold · signA · mineA · liveth · door · betangledB · bejangledB · forgotten · knocketh · watching · tender · hairC · thereC
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| KNOCKING, knocking, ever knocking? | 8 | /˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Who is there? | 3 | ··· |
| 'Tis a pilgrim, strange and kingly, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Never such was seen before;-- | 7 | /˘····· |
| Ah, sweet soul, for such a wonder | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Undo the door. | 4 | ˘/·· |
| No,--that door is hard to open; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Hinges rusty, latch is broken; | 8 | /˘/˘··/˘ |
| Bid Him go. | 3 | ··· |
| Wherefore, with that knocking dreary | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| Scare the sleep from one so weary? | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Say Him,--no. | 3 | ··· |
| Knocking, knocking, ever knocking? | 8 | /˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| What! Still there? | 3 | ··· |
| O, sweet soul, but once behold Him, | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| With the glory-crownéd hair; | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| And those eyes, so strange and tender, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Waiting there; | 3 | /˘· |
| Open! Open! Once behold Him,-- | 8 | /˘/˘·˘/· |
| Him, so fair. | 3 | ··· |
| Ah, that door! Why wilt Thou vex me, | 8 | ········ |
| Coming ever to perplex me? | 8 | /˘/˘·˘/· |
| For the key is stiffly rusty, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| And the bolt is clogged and dusty; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Many-fingered ivy-vine | 8 | /˘/˘˘/˘· |
| Seals it fast with twist and twine; | 7 | ······· |
| Weeds of years and years before | 7 | ······· |
| Choke the passage of that door. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Knocking! knocking! What! still knocking? | 8 | /˘/˘··/˘ |
| He still there? | 3 | ··· |
| What's the hour? The night is waning,-- | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| In my heart a drear complaining, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| And a chilly, sad unrest! | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Ah, this knocking! It disturbs me, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
| Scares my sleep with dreams unblest! | 7 | ······· |
| Give me rest, | 3 | ··· |
| Rest,--ah, rest! | 3 | ··· |
| Rest, dear soul, He longs to give thee; | 8 | ········ |
| Thou hast only dreamed of pleasure, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Dreamed of gifts and golden treasure, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Dreamed of jewels in thy keeping, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Waked to weariness of weeping;-- | 8 | ··/˘˘·/˘ |
| Open to thy soul's one Lover, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| And thy night of dreams is over,-- | 8 | ········ |
| The true gifts He brings have seeming | 8 | ······/˘ |
| More than all thy faded dreaming! | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Did she open? Doth she? Will she? | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| So, as wondering we behold, | 8 | ··/˘˘·˘/ |
| Grows the picture to a sign, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Pressed upon your soul and mine; | 8 | ·˘······ |
| For in every breast that liveth | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Is that strange mysterious door;-- | 8 | ···˘/˘˘· |
| Though forsaken and betangled, | 8 | ·˘/˘···˘ |
| Ivy-gnarled and weed-bejangled, | 8 | /˘·˘···· |
| Dusty, rusty, and forgotten;-- | 8 | /˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| There the piercéd hand still knocketh, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And with ever-patient watching, | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| With the sad eyes true and tender, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| With the glory-crownéd hair,-- | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Still a God is waiting there. | 7 | ····/˘· |
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