The Divinity
“Yes, write it in the rock,” Saint Bernard said,“Grave it on brass with adamantine pen!’Tis God himself becomes apparent, whenGod’s wisdom and God’s goodness are displayed;
For God of these his attributes is made.”--Well spake the impetuous saint, and bore of menThe suffrage captive: now not one in tenRecalls the obscure opposer he outweighed.
God’s wisdom and God’s goodness! Ay, but foolsMis-define these till God knows them no more.Wisdom and goodness, they are God!--what schools
Have yet so much as heard this simpler lore?This no saint preaches, and this no Church rules;’Tis in the desert, now and heretofore.
Words in this poem
- opposer n.
- One who opposes; an opponent; an antagonist; an adversary.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Divinity is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #54985; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Matthew Arnold, The Divinity, in Poems (1849–1867), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54985, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/arnold-poems/the-divinity.html, id L06984.
Form and metre
The Divinity is 14 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 36% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 -AAB said · penA · whenA · displayedB
- 2 BAAB madeB · menA · tenA · outweighedB
- 3 CDC foolsC · moreD · schoolsC
- 4 DCD loreD · rulesC · heretoforeD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “Yes, write it in the rock,” Saint Bernard said, | 10 | ·······˘/· |
| “Grave it on brass with adamantine pen! | 10 | ·········· |
| ’Tis God himself becomes apparent, when | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| God’s wisdom and God’s goodness are displayed; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| For God of these his attributes is made.”-- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Well spake the impetuous saint, and bore of men | 11 | ···˘/˘····· |
| The suffrage captive: now not one in ten | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Recalls the obscure opposer he outweighed. | 11 | /··˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| God’s wisdom and God’s goodness! Ay, but fools | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Mis-define these till God knows them no more. | 10 | ·˘/······· |
| Wisdom and goodness, they are God!--what schools | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Have yet so much as heard this simpler lore? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| This no saint preaches, and this no Church rules; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| ’Tis in the desert, now and heretofore. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
Notes from the edition 1
Matthew Arnold's own notes to his Poems (Project Gutenberg #54985), each headed by the line it glosses.
- Stanza 2, line 4 Gilbert de la Porrée, at the Council of Rheims in 1148.
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.