The baby new to earth and sky
The baby new to earth and sky,What time his tender palm is prestAgainst the circle of the breast,Has never thought that ‘this is I:’
But as he grows he gathers much,And learns the use of ‘I,’ and ‘me,’And finds ‘I am not what I see,And other than the things I touch:’
So rounds he to a separate mindFrom whence clear memory may begin,As thro’ the frame that binds him inHis isolation grows defined.
This use may lie in blood and breath,Which else were fruitless of their due,Had man to learn himself anewBeyond the second birth of Death.
Words in this poem
- prest a.
- Ready; prompt; prepared. [OF. prest, F. prêt, fr. L. praestus ready. Cf. Presto.]
- isolation n.
- The act of isolating, or the state of being isolated; insulation; separation; loneliness. Milman. [Cf. F. isolation.]
- fruitless a.
- Lacking, or not bearing, fruit; barren; destitute of offspring; as, a fruitless tree or shrub; a fruitless marriage.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The baby new to earth and sky is in the public domain. This text is taken from In memoriam, Project Gutenberg ebook #70950; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Alfred Tennyson, The baby new to earth and sky, in In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tennyson-in-memoriam/section-44.html, id L18404.
Form and metre
The baby new to earth and sky is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBA. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 25% 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 ABBA skyA · prestB · breastB · iA
- 2 ABBA muchA · meB · seeB · touchA
- 3 ABBA mindA · beginB · inB · definedA
- 4 ABBA breathA · dueB · anewB · deathA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The baby new to earth and sky, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| What time his tender palm is prest | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Against the circle of the breast, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Has never thought that ‘this is I:’ | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But as he grows he gathers much, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And learns the use of ‘I,’ and ‘me,’ | 8 | ········ |
| And finds ‘I am not what I see, | 8 | ········ |
| And other than the things I touch:’ | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| So rounds he to a separate mind | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| From whence clear memory may begin, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| As thro’ the frame that binds him in | 8 | ········ |
| His isolation grows defined. | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| This use may lie in blood and breath, | 8 | ········ |
| Which else were fruitless of their due, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Had man to learn himself anew | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| Beyond the second birth of Death. | 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.