Santa Christina
Saints are God's flowers, fragrant soulsThat His own hand hath planted,Not in some far-off heavenly place,Or solitude enchanted,But here and there and everywhere,--In lonely field, or crowded town,God sees a flower when He looks down.
Some wear the lily's stainless white,And some the rose of passion,And some the violet's heavenly blue,But each in its own fashion,With silent bloom and soft perfume,Is praising Him who from aboveBeholds each lifted face of love.
One such I knew,--and had the graceTo thank my God for knowing:The beauty of her quiet lifeWas like a rose in blowing,So fair and sweet, so all-completeAnd all unconscious, as a flower,That light and fragrance were her dower.
No convent-garden held this rose,Concealed like secret treasure;No royal terrace guarded herFor some sole monarch's pleasure.She made her shrine, this saint of mine,In a bright home where children played;And there she wrought and there she prayed.
In sunshine, when the days were glad,She had the art of keepingThe clearest rays, to give againIn days of rain and weeping;Her blessed heart could still impartSome portion of its secret grace,And charity shone in her face.
In joy she grew from year to year;And sorrow made her sweeter;And every comfort, still more kind;And every loss, completer.Her children came to love her name,--"Christina,"--'twas a lip's caress;And when they called, they seemed to bless.
No more they call, for she is goneToo far away to hear them;And yet they often breathe her nameAs if she lingered near them;They cannot reach her with love's speech,But when they say "Christina" now'Tis like a prayer or like a vow:
A vow to keep her life aliveIn deeds of pure affection,So that her love shall find in themA daily resurrection;A constant prayer that they may wearSome touch of that supernal lightWith which she blossoms in God's sight.
Words in this poem
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
- stainless a.
- Free from stain; immaculate.
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- caress n.
- An act of endearment; any act or expression of affection; an embracing, or touching, with tenderness. [F. caresse, It. carezza, LL. caritia dearness, fr. L. carus dear. See Charity.]
- 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,]
- resurrection n.
- A rising again; the resumption of vigor. [F. résurrection, L. resurrectio, fr. resurgere, resurrectum, to rise again; pref. re- re- + surgere to rise. See Source.]
- supernal a.
- Being in a higher place or region; locally higher; as, the supernal orbs; supernal regions. [L. supernus, from super above: cf. F. supernel. See Super-.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Santa Christina is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Henry Van Dyke, Project Gutenberg ebook #16229; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Van Dyke, Santa Christina, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/santa-christina.html, id L22843.
Form and metre
Santa Christina is 56 lines in 8 stanzas of 7 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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-A-BB souls · plantedA · place · enchantedA · everywhere · townB · downB
- 2 -A-A-BB white · passionA · blue · fashionA · perfume · aboveB · loveB
- 3 -A-A--- grace · knowingA · life · blowingA · complete · flower · dower
- 4 -A-A-BB rose · treasureA · her · pleasureA · mine · playedB · prayedB
- 5 -A-A-BB glad · keepingA · again · weepingA · impart · graceB · faceB
- 6 -A-A-BB year · sweeterA · kind · completerA · name · caressB · blessB
- 7 -A-A-BB gone · themA · name · themA · speech · nowB · vowB
- 8 -A-A-BB alive · affectionA · them · resurrectionA · wear · lightB · sightB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Saints are God's flowers, fragrant souls | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| That His own hand hath planted, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Not in some far-off heavenly place, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or solitude enchanted, | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| But here and there and everywhere,-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In lonely field, or crowded town, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| God sees a flower when He looks down. | 8 | ···/···· |
| Some wear the lily's stainless white, | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| And some the rose of passion, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And some the violet's heavenly blue, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| But each in its own fashion, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| With silent bloom and soft perfume, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Is praising Him who from above | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Beholds each lifted face of love. | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| One such I knew,--and had the grace | 8 | ········ |
| To thank my God for knowing: | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The beauty of her quiet life | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Was like a rose in blowing, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| So fair and sweet, so all-complete | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And all unconscious, as a flower, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| That light and fragrance were her dower. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| No convent-garden held this rose, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Concealed like secret treasure; | 8 | ˘/˘·/˘/˘ |
| No royal terrace guarded her | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| For some sole monarch's pleasure. | 7 | ···/·/˘ |
| She made her shrine, this saint of mine, | 8 | ········ |
| In a bright home where children played; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And there she wrought and there she prayed. | 8 | ········ |
| In sunshine, when the days were glad, | 8 | ·/······ |
| She had the art of keeping | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The clearest rays, to give again | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| In days of rain and weeping; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Her blessed heart could still impart | 8 | ··˘···˘/ |
| Some portion of its secret grace, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And charity shone in her face. | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| In joy she grew from year to year; | 8 | ········ |
| And sorrow made her sweeter; | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| And every comfort, still more kind; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And every loss, completer. | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Her children came to love her name,-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "Christina,"--'twas a lip's caress; | 8 | ˘/˘···˘/ |
| And when they called, they seemed to bless. | 8 | ········ |
| No more they call, for she is gone | 8 | ········ |
| Too far away to hear them; | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| And yet they often breathe her name | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As if she lingered near them; | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| They cannot reach her with love's speech, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But when they say "Christina" now | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| 'Tis like a prayer or like a vow: | 8 | ········ |
| A vow to keep her life alive | 8 | ······˘/ |
| In deeds of pure affection, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| So that her love shall find in them | 8 | ········ |
| A daily resurrection; | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| A constant prayer that they may wear | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Some touch of that supernal light | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| With which she blossoms in God's sight. | 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.