Matthew
If Nature, for a favourite child,In thee hath tempered so her clay,That every hour thy heart runs wild,Yet never once doth go astray,
Read o'er these lines; and then reviewThis tablet, that thus humbly rearsIn such diversity of hueIts history of two hundred years.
--When through this little wreck of fame,Cipher and syllable! thine eyeHas travelled down to Matthew's name,Pause with no common sympathy.
And; if a sleeping tear should wake,Then be it neither checked nor stayed:For Matthew a request I makeWhich for himself he had not made.
Poor Matthew, all his frolics o'er,Is silent as a standing pool;Far from the chimney's merry roar,And murmur of the village school.
The sighs which Matthew heaved were sighsOf one tired out with fun and madness;The tears which came to Matthew's eyesWere tears of light, the dew of gladness.
Yet, sometimes, when the secret cupOf still and serious thought went round,It seemed as if he drank it up--He felt with spirit so profound.
--Thou soul of God's best earthly mould!Thou happy Soul! and can it beThat these two words of glittering goldAre all that must remain of thee?
Words in this poem
- humbly adv.
- With humility; lowly.
- stayed a.
- Staid; fixed; settled; sober; -- now written staid. See Staid.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- drank n.
- Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [Cf. 3d Drake.]
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Matthew is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 2 (of 8), Project Gutenberg ebook #12145; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Wordsworth, Matthew, in The Poetical Works, Volume II (1798–1807), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12145, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wordsworth-vol2/matthew.html, id L17303.
Form and metre
Matthew is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 6 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 31% 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 ABAB childA · clayB · wildA · astrayB
- 2 ABAB reviewA · rearsB · hueA · yearsB
- 3 A-A- fameA · eye · nameA · sympathy
- 4 ABAB wakeA · stayedB · makeA · madeB
- 5 -A-A o'er · poolA · roar · schoolA
- 6 ABAB sighsA · madnessB · eyesA · gladnessB
- 7 ABAB cupA · roundB · upA · profoundB
- 8 ABAB mouldA · beB · goldA · theeB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If Nature, for a favourite child, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| In thee hath tempered so her clay, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That every hour thy heart runs wild, | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| Yet never once doth go astray, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Read o'er these lines; and then review | 8 | ·······/ |
| This tablet, that thus humbly rears | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| In such diversity of hue | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| Its history of two hundred years. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| --When through this little wreck of fame, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Cipher and syllable! thine eye | 8 | /˘·/˘˘·· |
| Has travelled down to Matthew's name, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Pause with no common sympathy. | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| And; if a sleeping tear should wake, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Then be it neither checked nor stayed: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For Matthew a request I make | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Which for himself he had not made. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Poor Matthew, all his frolics o'er, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Is silent as a standing pool; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Far from the chimney's merry roar, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And murmur of the village school. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The sighs which Matthew heaved were sighs | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of one tired out with fun and madness; | 9 | ··/····/˘ |
| The tears which came to Matthew's eyes | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Were tears of light, the dew of gladness. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Yet, sometimes, when the secret cup | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Of still and serious thought went round, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| It seemed as if he drank it up-- | 8 | ········ |
| He felt with spirit so profound. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| --Thou soul of God's best earthly mould! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thou happy Soul! and can it be | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That these two words of glittering gold | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Are all that must remain of thee? | 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.