The Land That Shall Be
Land that shall beThither, when thwarted our longings, we sail,--Sighs to the clouds, that we breathe when we fail,Form a mirage of rich valley and meadOver our need,--Visions revealing the future untilFaith shall fulfil,--The land that shall be.
Land that shall be!All of our labor to sow seeds of gainGrows in the ages when our names shall wane,Gathered with others', 't is stored in the trueWill to renew.This then shall carry our labor within,Safely withinThe land that shall be.
Land that shall be!Tears that are shed over evil's foul blight,Blood-sweat in conflict to win higher right,Hallow the will unto victory's cost.Let us be lost,Rooting out wrong, that the good we may sow,Soon overgrowThe land that shall be.
Land that shall be!Looming in beauty of colors and song,Golden in sunlight that glad makes and strong,Present in children's eyes, looking to-dayDown when you pray.Winning good victories gives us the powerTo own a brief hourThe land that shall be.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- hallow v. t.
- To make holy; to set apart for holy or religious use; to consecrate; to treat or keep as sacred; to reverence. [OE. halowen, halwien, halgien, AS. halgian, fr. halig holy. See Holy.]
- overgrow v. t.
- To grow over; to cover with growth or herbage, esp. that which is rank.
- looming n.
- The indistinct and magnified appearance of objects seen in particular states of the atmosphere. See Mirage.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Land That Shall Be is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems and Songs, Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, the Arthur Hubbell Palmer translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, The Land That Shall Be, in Poems and Songs (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bjornson-poems-and-songs/the-land-that-shall-be.html, id L29349.
Form and metre
The Land That Shall Be is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBCCDDA.
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 ABBCCDDA beA · sailB · failB · meadC · needC · untilD · fulfilD · beA
- 2 ABBCCDDA beA · gainB · waneB · trueC · renewC · withinD · withinD · beA
- 3 ABBCCDDA beA · blightB · rightB · costC · lostC · sowD · overgrowD · beA
- 4 ABBCCDDA beA · songB · strongB · dayC · prayC · powerD · hourD · beA
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Land that shall be | 4 | ···· |
| Thither, when thwarted our longings, we sail,-- | 10 | /˘·/˘//˘·· |
| Sighs to the clouds, that we breathe when we fail, | 10 | ·········· |
| Form a mirage of rich valley and mead | 10 | ··˘/··/˘·· |
| Over our need,-- | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Visions revealing the future until | 10 | /˘˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Faith shall fulfil,-- | 4 | ···· |
| The land that shall be. | 5 | ····· |
| Land that shall be! | 4 | ···· |
| All of our labor to sow seeds of gain | 10 | ··//˘····· |
| Grows in the ages when our names shall wane, | 10 | ···/˘·/··· |
| Gathered with others', 't is stored in the true | 11 | /˘·/˘······ |
| Will to renew. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| This then shall carry our labor within, | 10 | ···/˘//˘·· |
| Safely within | 4 | /˘·· |
| The land that shall be. | 5 | ····· |
| Land that shall be! | 4 | ···· |
| Tears that are shed over evil's foul blight, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Blood-sweat in conflict to win higher right, | 9 | ···/˘··/· |
| Hallow the will unto victory's cost. | 9 | /˘····/˘· |
| Let us be lost, | 4 | ···· |
| Rooting out wrong, that the good we may sow, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Soon overgrow | 4 | ···· |
| The land that shall be. | 5 | ····· |
| Land that shall be! | 4 | ···· |
| Looming in beauty of colors and song, | 10 | /˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| Golden in sunlight that glad makes and strong, | 10 | /˘·/······ |
| Present in children's eyes, looking to-day | 10 | /˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| Down when you pray. | 4 | ···· |
| Winning good victories gives us the power | 9 | /˘·/˘···/ |
| To own a brief hour | 6 | ····/˘ |
| The land that shall be. | 5 | ····· |
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.