To My Godchild Francis M. W. M
THIS labouring, vast, Tellurian galleon,Riding at anchor off the orient sun,Had broken its cable, and stood out to spaceDown some frore Arctic of the aërial ways:And now, back warping from the inclement main,Its vaporous shroudage drenched with icy rain,It swung into its azure roads again;When, floated on the prosperous sun-gale, youLit, a white halcyon auspice, ’mid our frozen crew.
To the Sun, stranger, surely you belong,Giver of golden days and golden song;Nor is it by an all-unhappy planYou bear the name of me, his constant Magian.Yet ah! from any other that it came,Lest fated to my fate you be, as to my name.When at the first those tidings did they bring,My heart turned troubled at the ominous thing:Though well may such a title him endower,For whom a poet’s prayer implores a poet’s power.The Assisian, who kept plighted faith to three,To Song, to Sanctitude, and Poverty,(In two alone of whom most singers proveA fatal faithfulness of during love!);He the sweet Sales, of whom we scarcely kenHow God he could love more, he so loved men;The crown and crowned of Laura and Italy;And Fletcher’s fellow—from these, and not from me,Take you your name, and take your legacy!
Or, if a right successive you declareWhen worms, for ivies, intertwine my hair,Take but this Poesy that now followethMy clayey hest with sullen servile breath,Made then your happy freedman by testating death.My song I do but hold for you in trust,I ask you but to blossom from my dust.When you have compassed all weak I began,Diviner poet, and ah! diviner man;The man at feud with the perduring childIn you before song’s altar nobly reconciled;From the wise heavens I half shall smile to seeHow little a world, which owned you, needed me.If, while you keep the vigils of the night,For your wild tears make darkness all too bright,Some lone orb through your lonely window peeps,As it played lover over your sweet sleeps;Think it a golden crevice in the sky,Which I have pierced but to behold you by!
And when, immortal mortal, droops your head,And you, the child of deathless song, are dead;Then, as you search with unaccustomed glanceThe ranks of Paradise for my countenance,Turn not your tread along the Uranian sodAmong the bearded counsellors of God;For if in Eden as on earth are we,I sure shall keep a younger company:Pass where beneath their rangèd gonfalonsThe starry cohorts shake their shielded suns,The dreadful mass of their enridgèd spears;Pass where majestical the eternal peers,The stately choice of the great Saintdom, meet—A silvern segregation, globed completeIn sandalled shadow of the Triune feet;Pass by where wait, young poet-wayfarer,Your cousined clusters, emulous to shareWith you the roseal lightnings burning ’mid their hair;Pass the crystalline sea, the Lampads seven:—Look for me in the nurseries of Heaven.
Words in this poem 30
- labouring a.
- That labors; performing labor; esp., performing coarse, heavy work, not requiring skill also, set apart for labor; as, laboring days.
- tellurian a.
- Of or pertaining to the earth. De Quincey. [L. tellus, -uris, the earth.]
- galleon n.
- A sailing vessel of the 15th and following centuries, often having three or four decks, and used for war or commerce. The term is often rather indiscriminately applied to any large sailing vessel. [Sp. galeon, cf. F. galion; fr. LL. galeo, galio. See Galley.]
- warping n.
- The act or process of one who, or that which, warps.
- inclement a.
- Not clement; destitute of a mild and kind temper; void of tenderness; unmerciful; severe; harsh. [L. inclemens; pref. in- not + clemens mild: cf. F. inclément. See Clement.]
- auspice n.
- A divining or taking of omens by observing birds; an omen as to an undertaking, drawn from birds; an augury; an omen or sign in general; an indication as to the future. [L. auspicium, fr. auspex: cf. F. auspice. See Auspicate, a.]
- giver n.
- One who gives; a donor; a bestower; a grantor; one who imparts or distributes.
- magian a.
- Of or pertaining to the Magi.
- endower v. t.
- To endow. Waterhouse. [Cf. OF. endouairer. See Dower, Endow.]
- sanctitude a.
- Holiness; sacredness; sanctity. milton. [L. sanctitudo.]
- laura n.
- A number of hermitages or cells in the same neighborhood occupied by anchorites who were under the same superior. C. Kingsley.
- poesy n.
- The art of composing poems; poetical skill or faculty; as, the heavenly gift of poesy. [F. poésie (cf. It. poesia), L. poesis, from Gr. Posy.]
- hest n.
- Command; precept; injunction. See Behest. [AS. hs, fr. h to call, bid. See Hight, and cf. Behest.]
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
- freedman n.
- A man who has been a slave, and has been set free.
- compassed a.
- Rounded; arched.
- nobly adv.
- Of noble extraction; as, nobly born or descended.
- 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,]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
- uranian a.
- Of or pertaining to the planet Uranus; as, the Uranian year.
- 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.]
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- majestical a.
- Majestic. Cowley.
- saintdom n.
- The state or character of a saint.
- silvern a.
- Made of silver. Wyclif (Acts xix. 24). [AS. seolfern, sylfren.]
- segregation n.
- The act of segregating, or the state of being segregated; separation from others; a parting. [L. segregatio: cf. F. ségrégation.]
- triune a.
- Being three in one; -- an epithet used to express the unity of a trinity of persons in the Godhead. [Pref. tri- + L. unus one. See One.]
- roseal a.
- resembling a rose in smell or color. Sir T. Elyot. [L. roseus, fr. rosa a rose.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To My Godchild Francis M. W. M is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #1469; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Francis Thompson, To My Godchild Francis M. W. M, in Poems (1893) (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1469, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/thompson-poems/to-my-godchild-francis-m-w-m.html, id L01714.
Form and metre
To My Godchild Francis M. W. M is 67 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 69% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.5 syllables. 12 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AA--BBBCC galleonA · sunA · space · ways · mainB · rainB · againB · youC · crewC
- 2 AA--BBCC--D-EEFF-D- belongA · songA · plan · magian · cameB · nameB · bringC · thingC · endower · power · threeD · poverty · proveE · loveE · kenF · menF · italy · meD · legacy
- 3 AABBBCCDDEEFFGGHHII declareA · hairA · followethB · breathB · deathB · trustC · dustC · beganD · manD · childE · reconciledE · seeF · meF · nightG · brightG · peepsH · sleepsH · skyI · byI
- 4 AABBCC--DDEEFFF-GGHH headA · deadA · glanceB · countenanceB · sodC · godC · we · company · gonfalonsD · sunsD · spearsE · peersE · meetF · completeF · feetF · wayfarer · shareG · hairG · sevenH · heavenH
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 |
|---|---|---|
| THIS labouring, vast, Tellurian galleon, | 11 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Riding at anchor off the orient sun, | 11 | /˘·/˘··/˘·· |
| Had broken its cable, and stood out to space | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| Down some frore Arctic of the aërial ways: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And now, back warping from the inclement main, | 11 | ···/˘··/˘˘· |
| Its vaporous shroudage drenched with icy rain, | 11 | ·/˘˘····/˘· |
| It swung into its azure roads again; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| When, floated on the prosperous sun-gale, you | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Lit, a white halcyon auspice, ’mid our frozen crew. | 12 | ···/˘/˘·//˘· |
| To the Sun, stranger, surely you belong, | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Giver of golden days and golden song; | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Nor is it by an all-unhappy plan | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| You bear the name of me, his constant Magian. | 12 | ·······/˘/˘˘ |
| Yet ah! from any other that it came, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Lest fated to my fate you be, as to my name. | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| When at the first those tidings did they bring, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| My heart turned troubled at the ominous thing: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Though well may such a title him endower, | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| For whom a poet’s prayer implores a poet’s power. | 12 | ···/˘·˘/·/˘/ |
| The Assisian, who kept plighted faith to three, | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| To Song, to Sanctitude, and Poverty, | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘˘ |
| (In two alone of whom most singers prove | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| A fatal faithfulness of during love!); | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| He the sweet Sales, of whom we scarcely ken | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| How God he could love more, he so loved men; | 10 | ·········· |
| The crown and crowned of Laura and Italy; | 11 | ·····/˘·/˘˘ |
| And Fletcher’s fellow—from these, and not from me, | 11 | ·/˘/˘······ |
| Take you your name, and take your legacy! | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Or, if a right successive you declare | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| When worms, for ivies, intertwine my hair, | 10 | ···/˘˘˘/·· |
| Take but this Poesy that now followeth | 11 | ···/˘˘··/˘˘ |
| My clayey hest with sullen servile breath, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Made then your happy freedman by testating death. | 12 | ···/˘/˘····· |
| My song I do but hold for you in trust, | 10 | ·········· |
| I ask you but to blossom from my dust. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| When you have compassed all weak I began, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Diviner poet, and ah! diviner man; | 11 | ˘/˘/˘··˘/˘· |
| The man at feud with the perduring child | 10 | ·········· |
| In you before song’s altar nobly reconciled; | 12 | ·····/˘/˘/˘· |
| From the wise heavens I half shall smile to see | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| How little a world, which owned you, needed me. | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘· |
| If, while you keep the vigils of the night, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| For your wild tears make darkness all too bright, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Some lone orb through your lonely window peeps, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| As it played lover over your sweet sleeps; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Think it a golden crevice in the sky, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Which I have pierced but to behold you by! | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| And when, immortal mortal, droops your head, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| And you, the child of deathless song, are dead; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Then, as you search with unaccustomed glance | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| The ranks of Paradise for my countenance, | 11 | ···/˘···/˘˘ |
| Turn not your tread along the Uranian sod | 12 | ····˘/·˘/˘˘· |
| Among the bearded counsellors of God; | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| For if in Eden as on earth are we, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| I sure shall keep a younger company: | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Pass where beneath their rangèd gonfalons | 9 | ········· |
| The starry cohorts shake their shielded suns, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| The dreadful mass of their enridgèd spears; | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Pass where majestical the eternal peers, | 11 | ··˘/˘˘·˘/˘· |
| The stately choice of the great Saintdom, meet— | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| A silvern segregation, globed complete | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘·˘/ |
| In sandalled shadow of the Triune feet; | 10 | ·/˘/···/˘· |
| Pass by where wait, young poet-wayfarer, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Your cousined clusters, emulous to share | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘·· |
| With you the roseal lightnings burning ’mid their hair; | 13 | ···/˘˘/˘/˘··· |
| Pass the crystalline sea, the Lampads seven:— | 11 | ··/˘·····/˘ |
| Look for me in the nurseries of Heaven. | 11 | ·····/˘˘·/˘ |
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