The Message
Waking from tender sleep,My neighbour's little childPut out his baby hand to me,Looked in my face, and smiled.
It seems as if he cameHome from a happy land,To bring a message to my heartAnd make me understand.
Somewhere, among bright dreams,A child that once was mineHas whispered wordless love to him,And given him a sign.
Comfort of kindly speech,And counsel of the wise,Have helped me less than what I readIn those deep-smiling eyes.
Sleep sweetly, little friend,And dream again of heaven:With double love I kiss your hand,--Your message has been given.
Words in this poem
- somewhere adv.
- In some place unknown or not specified; in one place or another.
- wordless a.
- Not using words; not speaking; silent; speechless.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Message 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, The Message, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/the-message.html, id L22860.
Form and metre
The Message is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is short measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in short measure.
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 sleep · childA · me · smiledA
- 2 -A-A came · landA · heart · understandA
- 3 -A-A dreams · mineA · him · signA
- 4 -A-A speech · wiseA · read · eyesA
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 short measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Waking from tender sleep, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| My neighbour's little child | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Put out his baby hand to me, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Looked in my face, and smiled. | 6 | ······ |
| It seems as if he came | 6 | ······ |
| Home from a happy land, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| To bring a message to my heart | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And make me understand. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Somewhere, among bright dreams, | 6 | /····· |
| A child that once was mine | 6 | ······ |
| Has whispered wordless love to him, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And given him a sign. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Comfort of kindly speech, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| And counsel of the wise, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Have helped me less than what I read | 8 | ········ |
| In those deep-smiling eyes. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Sleep sweetly, little friend, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And dream again of heaven: | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| With double love I kiss your hand,-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Your message has been given. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
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.