Laurel · Robert Browning · Dramatic Lyrics

Holy-Cross Day

iambic pentameter · AABBCC · 177 lines · from Dramatic Lyrics

Fee, faw, fum! bubble and squeak!Blessedest Thursday's the fat of the week.Rumble and tumble, sleek and rough,Stinking and savoury, smug and gruff,Take the church-road, for the bell's due chimeGives us the summons--'tis sermon-time!

Boh, here's Barnabas! Job, that's you?Up stumps Solomon--bustling too?Shame, man! greedy beyond your yearsTo handsel the bishop's shaving-shears?Fair play's a jewel! Leave friends in the lurch?Stand on a line ere you start for the church!

Higgledy piggledy, packed we lie,Rats in a hamper, swine in a stye,Wasps in a bottle, frogs in a sieve,Worms in a carcase, fleas in a sleeve.Hist! square shoulders, settle your thumbsAnd buzz for the bishop--here he comes.

Bow, wow, wow--a bone for the dog!I liken his Grace to an acorned hog.What, a boy at his side, with the bloom of a lass,To help and handle my lord's hour-glass!Didst ever behold so lithe a chine?His cheek hath laps like a fresh-singed swine.

Aaron's asleep--shove hip to haunch,Or somebody deal him a dig in the paunch!Look at the purse with the tassel and knobAnd the gown with the angel and thingumbob!What's he at, quotha? reading his text!Now you've his curtsey--and what comes next?

See to our converts--you doomed black dozen--No stealing away--nor cog nor cozen!You five, that were thieves, deserve it fairly;You seven, that were beggars, will live less sparely;You took your turn and dipped in the hat,Got fortune--and fortune gets you; mind that!

Give your first groan--compunction's at workAnd soft! from a Jew you mount to a Turk.Lo, Micah,--the selfsame beard on chinHe was four times already converted in!Here's a knife, clip quick--it's a sign of grace--Or he ruins us all with his hanging-face.

Whom now is the bishop a-leering at?I know a point where his text falls pat.I'll tell him to-morrow, a word just nowWent to my heart and made me vowI meddle no more with the worst of trades--Let somebody else pay his serenades.

Groan all together now, whee-hee-hee!It's a-work, it's a-work, ah, woe is me!It began, when a herd of us, picked and placed,Were spurred through the Corso, stripped to the waist;Jew brutes, with sweat and blood well spentTo usher in worthily Christian Lent.

It grew, when the hangman entered our bounds,Yelled, pricked us out to his church like hounds:It got to a pitch, when the hand indeedWhich gutted my purse would throttle my creed:And it overflows when, to even the odd,Men I helped to their sins help me to their God.

But now, while the scapegoats leave our flock,And the rest sit silent and count the clock,Since forced to muse the appointed timeOn these precious facts and truths sublime,Let us fitly employ it, under our breath,In saying Ben Ezra's Song of Death.

For Rabbi Ben Ezra, the night he died,Called sons and sons' sons to his side,And spoke, "This world has been harsh and strange;Something is wrong: there needeth change.But what, or where? at the last or first?In one point only we sinned, at worst.

"The Lord will have mercy on Jacob yet,And again in his border see Israel set.When Judah beholds Jerusalem,The stranger-seed shall be joined to them:To Jacob's House shall the Gentiles cleave.So the Prophet saith and his sons believe.

"Ay, the children of the chosen raceShall carry and bring them to their place:In the land of the Lord shall lead the sameBondsmen and handmaids. Who shall blame,When the slaves enslave, the oppressed ones o'erThe oppressor triumph for evermore?

"God spoke, and gave us the word to keep,Bade never fold the hands nor sleep'Mid a faithless world, at watch and ward,Till Christ at the end relieve our guard.By His servant Moses the watch was set:Though near upon cock-crow, we keep it yet.

"Thou! if thou wast He, who at mid-watch came,By the starlight, naming a dubious name!And if, too heavy with sleep--too rashWith fear--O Thou, if that martyr-gashFell on Thee coming to take thine own,And we gave the Cross, when we owed the Throne--

"Thou art the Judge. We are bruised thus.But, the Judgment over, join sides with us!Thine too is the cause! and not more thineThan ours, is the work of these dogs and swine,Whose life laughs through and spits at their creed!Who maintain Thee in word, and defy Thee in deed!

"We withstood Christ then? Be mindful howAt least we withstand Barabbas now!Was our outrage sore? But the worst we spared,To have called these--Christians, had we dared!Let defiance to them pay mistrust of Thee,And Rome make amends for Calvary!

"By the torture, prolonged from age to age,By the infamy, Israel's heritage,By the Ghetto's plague, by the garb's disgrace,By the badge of shame, by the felon's place,By the branding-tool, the bloody whip,And the summons to Christian fellowship,--

"We boast our proof that at least the JewWould wrest Christ's name from the Devil's crew.Thy face took never so deep a shadeBut we fought them in it, God our aid!A trophy to bear, as we march, thy band,South, East, and on to the Pleasant Land!"

Among these latter busts we count by scores,Half-emperors and quarter-emperors,Each with his bay-leaf fillet, loose-thonged vest,Loric and low-browed Gorgon on the breast,One loves a baby face, with violets there,Violets instead of laurel in the hair,As those were all the little locks could bear.

Now, read here. "Protus ends a periodOf empery beginning with a god;Born in the porphyry chamber at Byzant,Queens by his cradle, proud and ministrant:And if he quickened breath there, 'twould like firePantingly through the dim vast realm transpire.A fame that he was missing spread afar:The world from its four corners, rose in war,Till he was borne out on a balconyTo pacify the world when it should see.The captains ranged before him, one, his handMade baby points at, gained the chief command.And day by day more beautiful he grewIn shape, all said, in feature and in hue,While young Greek sculptors, gazing on the child,Became with old Greek sculpture reconciled.Already sages laboured to condenseIn easy tomes a life's experience:And artists took grave counsel to impartIn one breath and one hand-sweep, all their art,To make his graces prompt as blossomingOf plentifully-watered palms in spring:Since well beseems it, whoso mounts the throne,For beauty, knowledge, strength, should stand alone,And mortals love the letters of his name."

--Stop! Have you turned two pages? Still the same.New reign, same date. The scribe goes on to sayHow that same year, on such a month and day,"John the Pannonian, groundedly believedA blacksmith's bastard, whose hard hand reprievedThe Empire from its fate the year before,Came, had a mind to take the crown, and woreThe same for six years (during which the HunsKept off their fingers from us), till his sonsPut something in his liquor"--and so forth.Then a new reign. Stay--"Take at its just worth"(Subjoins an annotator) "what I giveAs hearsay. Some think, John let Protus liveAnd slip away. 'Tis said, he reached man's ageAt some blind northern court; made, first a page,Then tutor to the children; last, of useAbout the hunting-stables. I deduceHe wrote the little tract 'On worming dogs,'Whereof the name in sundry cataloguesIs extant yet. A Protus of the raceIs rumoured to have died a monk in Thrace,And if the same, he reached senility."

Here's John the Smith's rough-hammered head. Great eye,Gross jaw and griped lips do what granite canTo give you the crown-grasper. What a man!

Words in this poem 58

squeak v. i.: To utter a sharp, shrill cry, usually of short duration; to cry with an acute tone, as an animal; or, to make a sharp, disagreeable noise, as a pipe or quill, a wagon wheel, a door; to creak. [Probably of imitative origin; cf. Sw. sqväka to croak, Icel. skvakka to give a sound as of water shaken in a bottle.]
savoury n.: An aromatic labiate plant (Satireia hortensis), much used in cooking; -- also called summer savory. [F. savorée; cf. It. santoreggia, satureja, L. satureia,]
smug v. t.: To make smug, or spruce.
gruff a.: Of a rough or stern manner, voice, or countenance; sour; surly; severe; harsh. [D. grof; akin to G. grob, OHG. gerob, grob, Dan. grov, Sw. grof, perh. akin to AS. rcófan to break, Z. reavc, rupture, g- standing for the AS. prefix ge-, Goth.]
chime n.: The harmonious sound of bells, or of musical instruments. [OE. chimbe, prop., cymbal, OF. cymbe, cymble, in a dialectic form, chymble, F. cymbale, L. cymbalum, fr. Gr. Cymbal.]
bustling a.: Agitated; noisy; tumultuous; characterized by confused activity; as, a bustling crowd.
lurch v. t.: To leave in the lurch; to cheat.
liken v. t.: To allege, or think, to be like; to represent as like; to compare; as, to liken life to a pilgrimage. [OE. liknen. See Like, a.]
acorned a.: Furnished or loaded with acorns.
lass n.: A youth woman; a girl; a sweetheart. [OE. lasse; prob. of Celtic origin; cf. W. llodes girl, fem. of llawd lad. (Lad a youth.]
didst: , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
lithe v. i.: To listen or listen to; to hearken to. P. Plowman. [Icel Listen.]
haunch n.: The hip; the projecting region of the lateral parts of the pelvis and the hip joint; the hind part. [F. hanche, of German origin; cf. OD. hancke, hencke, and also OHG. ancha; prob. not akin to E. ankle.]
somebody n.: A person unknown or uncertain; a person indeterminate; some person.
paunch n.: The belly and its contents; the abdomen; also, the first stomach, or rumen, of ruminants. See Rumen. [OF. panch, pance, F. panse, L. pantex, panticis.]
quotha interj.: Indeed; forsooth. [For quoth'a, said he, 'a being corrupted from he.]
cozen v. t.: To cheat; to defrand; to beguile; to deceive, usually by small arts, or in a pitiful way. [From cousin, hence, literally, to deceive through pretext of relationship, F. cousiner.]
fairly adv.: In a fairmanner; clearly; openly; plainly; fully; distinctly; frankly.
sparely adv.: In a spare manner; sparingly.
turk n.: A member of any of numerous Tartar tribes of Central Asia, etc.; esp., one of the dominant race in Turkey. [Per. Turk; probably of Tartar origin: cf. F. Turc.]
selfsame a.: Precisely the same; the very same; identical. [Self, a. + same.]
went n.: Course; way; path; journey; direction.
meddle v. i.: To mix; to mingle. [OE. medlen to mix, OF. medler, mesler, F. mêler, LL. misculare, a dim. fr. L. miscere to mix. Mix, and cf. Medley, Mellay.]
worthily adv.: In a worthy manner; excellently; deservedly; according to merit; justly; suitably; becomingly.
throttle n.: The windpipe, or trachea; the weasand. [Dim. of throat. See Throat.]
rabbi n.: Master; lord; teacher; -- a Jewish title of respect or honor for a teacher or doctor of the law.
spoke n.: The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
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,]
saith: 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
oppressor n.: One who oppresses; one who imposes unjust burdens on others; one who harasses others with unjust laws or unreasonable severity. [L.]
evermore adv.: During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
bade: A form of the pat tense of Bid.
relieve v. t.: To lift up; to raise again, as one who has fallen; to cause to rise. Piers Plowman. [OE. releven, F. relever to raise again, discharge, relieve, fr. L. relevare to lift up, raise, make light, relieve; pref. re- re- + levare to raise, fr. levis l]
wast: The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style.
starlight n.: The light given by the stars.
dubious a.: Doubtful or not settled in opinion; being in doubt; wavering or fluctuating; undetermined. [L. dubius, dubiosus, fr. duo two. See Two, and cf. Doubt.]
defy v. t.: To renounce or dissolve all bonds of affiance, faith, or obligation with; to reject, refuse, or renounce. [F. défier, OF. deffier, desfier, LL. disfidare to disown faith or fidelity, to dissolve the bond of allegiance, as between the vassal and his lord; hence, to ch]
mindful a.: Bearing in mind; regardful; attentive; heedful; observant.
calvary n.: The place where Christ was crucified, on a small hill outside of Jerusalem. Luke xxiii. 33. [L. calvaria a bare skull, fr. calva the scalp without hair. fr. calvus bald; cf. F. calvaire.]
heritage a.: That which is inherited, or passes from heir to heir; inheritance. [OE. heritage, eritage, OF. heritage, eritage, F. héritage, fr. hériter to inherit, LL. heriditare. See Hereditable.]
trophy n.: A sign or memorial of a victory raised on the field of battle, or, in case of a naval victory, on the nearest land. Sometimes trophies were erected in the chief city of the conquered people. [F. trophée (cf. It. & Sp. trofeo), L. tropaeum, trophaeum, Gr. Trope.]
vest n.: An article of clothing covering the person; an outer garment; a vestment; a dress; a vesture; a robe. [L. vestis a garment, vesture; akin to Goth. wasti, and E. wear: cf. F. veste. See Wear to carry on the person, and cf. Divest, Invest, Travesty.]
empery n.: Empire; sovereignty; dominion. [L. imperium, influenced by OF. emperie, empire. See Empire.]
byzant n.: A gold coin, so called from being coined at Byzantium. See Bezant. [OE. besant, besaunt, F. besant, fr. LL. Byzantius, Byzantinus, fr. Byzantium.]
ministrant a.: Performing service as a minister; attendant on service; acting under command; subordinate. [L. ministrans, -antis, of ministrare to minister.]
pantingly adv.: With palpitation or rapid breathing.
transpire v. i.: To pass off in the form of vapor or insensible perspiration; to exhale. [F. transpirer; L. trans across, through + spirare to breathe. See Spirit.]
afar adv.: At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
laboured a.: Bearing marks of labor and effort; elaborately wrought; not easy or natural; as, labored poetry; a labored style.
whoso pron.: Whosoever. Piers Plowman.
scribe n.: One who writes; a draughtsman; a writer for another; especially, an offical or public writer; an amanuensis or secretary; a notary; a copyist. [L. scriba, fr. scribere to write; cf. Gr. scarify. Cf. Ascribe, Describe, Script, Scrivener, Scrutoire.]
groundedly adv.: In a grounded or firmly established manner. Glanvill.
hearsay n.: Report; rumor; fame; common talk; something heard from another.
wrote v. i.: To root with the snout. See 1st Root. [OE. wroten. See 1st Root.]
whereof adv.: Of which; of whom; formerly, also, with which; -- used relatively.
sundry a.: Several; divers; more than one or two; various. [OE. sundry, sondry, AS. syndrig, fr. sundor asunder. See Sunder, v. t.]
extant a.: Standing out or above any surface; protruded. [L. extans, -antis, or exstans, -antis, p.pr. of extare, exstare, to stand out or forth; ex out + stare to stand: cf. F. extant. See Stand.]
senility n.: The quality or state of being senile; old age. [Cf. F. sénilité.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Holy-Cross Day is in the public domain. This text is taken from Dramatic Romances, Project Gutenberg ebook #4253; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Robert Browning, Holy-Cross Day, in Dramatic Lyrics (1842), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4253, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/browning-dramatic-lyrics/holy-cross-day.html, id L03554.

Form and metre

Holy-Cross Day is 177 lines in 24 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABBCC, complete in 14 of its 24 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.5 syllables. 14 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 24% 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 AABBCC squeak^A · week^A · rough^B · gruff^B · chime^C · time^C
2 AABBCC you^A · too^A · years^B · shears^B · lurch^C · church^C
3 ----AA lie · stye · sieve · sleeve · thumbs^A · comes^A
4 --AA-- dog · hog · lass^A · glass^A · chine · swine
5 AA--BB haunch^A · paunch^A · knob · thingumbob · text^B · next^B
6 AABBCC dozen^A · cozen^A · fairly^B · sparely^B · hat^C · that^C
7 AABBCC work^A · turk^A · chin^B · in^B · grace^C · face^C
8 AABBCC at^A · pat^A · now^B · vow^B · trades^C · serenades^C
9 AABBCC hee^A · me^A · placed^B · waist^B · spent^C · lent^C
10 AABBCC bounds^A · hounds^A · indeed^B · creed^B · odd^C · god^C
11 AABBCC flock^A · clock^A · time^B · sublime^B · breath^C · death^C
12 AABBCC died^A · side^A · strange^B · change^B · first^C · worst^C
13 AABBCC yet^A · set^A · jerusalem^B · them^B · cleave^C · believe^C
14 AABB-- race^A · place^A · same^B · blame^B · o'er · evermore
15 AA--BB keep^A · sleep^A · ward · guard · set^B · yet^B
16 AABBCC came^A · name^A · rash^B · gash^B · own^C · throne^C
17 AABBCC thus^A · us^A · thine^B · swine^B · creed^C · deed^C
18 AABB-- how^A · now^A · spared^B · dared^B · thee · calvary
19 AABBCC age^A · heritage^A · disgrace^B · place^B · whip^C · fellowship^C
20 AABBCC jew^A · crew^A · shade^B · aid^B · band^C · land^C
21 --AABBB scores · emperors · vest^A · breast^A · there^B · hair^B · bear^B
22 AABBCC----DDEEFFGGHHIIJJ- period^A · god^A · byzant^B · ministrant^B · fire^C · transpire^C · afar · war · balcony · see · hand^D · command^D · grew^E · hue^E · child^F · reconciled^F · condense^G · experience^G · impart^H · art^H · blossoming^I · spring^I · throne^J · alone^J · name
23 -AABBCCDD--EEFFGGHHII- same · say^A · day^A · believed^B · reprieved^B · before^C · wore^C · huns^D · sons^D · forth · worth · give^E · live^E · age^F · page^F · use^G · deduce^G · dogs^H · catalogues^H · race^I · thrace^I · senility
24 -AA eye · can^A · man^A

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
Fee, faw, fum! bubble and squeak!	7	···/˘··
Blessedest Thursday's the fat of the week.	9	/˘/˘·····
Rumble and tumble, sleek and rough,	8	/˘·/˘···
Stinking and savoury, smug and gruff,	9	/˘·······
Take the church-road, for the bell's due chime	9	·········
Gives us the summons--'tis sermon-time!	9	···/˘·/˘·
Boh, here's Barnabas! Job, that's you?	8	··/˘˘···
Up stumps Solomon--bustling too?	8	··/˘/˘˘·
Shame, man! greedy beyond your years	8	··/˘····
To handsel the bishop's shaving-shears?	9	·/˘·/˘/˘·
Fair play's a jewel! Leave friends in the lurch?	9	···/·····
Stand on a line ere you start for the church!	10	··········
Higgledy piggledy, packed we lie,	9	·········
Rats in a hamper, swine in a stye,	9	···/˘····
Wasps in a bottle, frogs in a sieve,	9	···/˘····
Worms in a carcase, fleas in a sleeve.	9	···/˘····
Hist! square shoulders, settle your thumbs	8	··/˘/˘··
And buzz for the bishop--here he comes.	9	····/˘···
Bow, wow, wow--a bone for the dog!	8	········
I liken his Grace to an acorned hog.	10	·/˘····/˘·
What, a boy at his side, with the bloom of a lass,	12	············
To help and handle my lord's hour-glass!	9	···/˘··/·
Didst ever behold so lithe a chine?	8	·/˘/····
His cheek hath laps like a fresh-singed swine.	9	·········
Aaron's asleep--shove hip to haunch,	8	/˘˘/····
Or somebody deal him a dig in the paunch!	11	·/˘˘·······
Look at the purse with the tassel and knob	10	······/˘··
And the gown with the angel and thingumbob!	11	·····/˘····
What's he at, quotha? reading his text!	9	···/˘/˘··
Now you've his curtsey--and what comes next?	9	·········
See to our converts--you doomed black dozen--	10	··/˘/···/˘
No stealing away--nor cog nor cozen!	10	·/˘˘/···/˘
You five, that were thieves, deserve it fairly;	10	·····˘/·/˘
You seven, that were beggars, will live less sparely;	11	·/··/˘···/˘
You took your turn and dipped in the hat,	9	·········
Got fortune--and fortune gets you; mind that!	10	·/˘·/˘····
Give your first groan--compunction's at work	9	····˘/˘··
And soft! from a Jew you mount to a Turk.	10	··········
Lo, Micah,--the selfsame beard on chin	9	·/˘·/˘···
He was four times already converted in!	11	····˘/˘˘/˘·
Here's a knife, clip quick--it's a sign of grace--	10	··········
Or he ruins us all with his hanging-face.	11	··/˘····/˘·
Whom now is the bishop a-leering at?	10	····/˘····
I know a point where his text falls pat.	9	·········
I'll tell him to-morrow, a word just now	10	····/˘····
Went to my heart and made me vow	8	········
I meddle no more with the worst of trades--	10	·/˘·······
Let somebody else pay his serenades.	10	·/˘˘····˘/
Groan all together now, whee-hee-hee!	9	··˘/˘····
It's a-work, it's a-work, ah, woe is me!	10	··········
It began, when a herd of us, picked and placed,	11	·˘/········
Were spurred through the Corso, stripped to the waist;	10	····/˘····
Jew brutes, with sweat and blood well spent	8	········
To usher in worthily Christian Lent.	10	·/˘·/˘˘/˘·
It grew, when the hangman entered our bounds,	10	····/˘/˘/·
Yelled, pricked us out to his church like hounds:	9	·········
It got to a pitch, when the hand indeed	10	········˘/
Which gutted my purse would throttle my creed:	10	·/˘···/˘··
And it overflows when, to even the odd,	10	··/˘···/··
Men I helped to their sins help me to their God.	11	···········
But now, while the scapegoats leave our flock,	9	····/··/·
And the rest sit silent and count the clock,	10	····/˘····
Since forced to muse the appointed time	9	·····˘/˘·
On these precious facts and truths sublime,	9	··/˘···˘/
Let us fitly employ it, under our breath,	11	··/˘˘/···/·
In saying Ben Ezra's Song of Death.	9	·/˘·/˘···
For Rabbi Ben Ezra, the night he died,	10	·/··/˘····
Called sons and sons' sons to his side,	8	········
And spoke, "This world has been harsh and strange;	9	·········
Something is wrong: there needeth change.	8	/˘···/˘·
But what, or where? at the last or first?	9	·········
In one point only we sinned, at worst.	9	···/˘····
"The Lord will have mercy on Jacob yet,	10	····/˘·/˘·
And again in his border see Israel set.	11	·˘/··/˘·/˘·
When Judah beholds Jerusalem,	9	·/˘˘/˘/˘˘
The stranger-seed shall be joined to them:	9	·/˘······
To Jacob's House shall the Gentiles cleave.	9	·/˘···/··
So the Prophet saith and his sons believe.	10	··/˘····˘/
"Ay, the children of the chosen race	9	··/˘··/˘·
Shall carry and bring them to their place:	9	·/˘······
In the land of the Lord shall lead the same	10	··········
Bondsmen and handmaids. Who shall blame,	8	········
When the slaves enslave, the oppressed ones o'er	10	···˘/·˘/··
The oppressor triumph for evermore?	10	·˘/˘/˘·/˘·
"God spoke, and gave us the word to keep,	9	·········
Bade never fold the hands nor sleep	8	·/˘·····
'Mid a faithless world, at watch and ward,	9	··/˘·····
Till Christ at the end relieve our guard.	9	·····˘//·
By His servant Moses the watch was set:	10	··/˘/˘····
Though near upon cock-crow, we keep it yet.	10	··········
"Thou! if thou wast He, who at mid-watch came,	10	··········
By the starlight, naming a dubious name!	10	··/·/˘·/˘·
And if, too heavy with sleep--too rash	9	···/˘····
With fear--O Thou, if that martyr-gash	9	······/˘·
Fell on Thee coming to take thine own,	9	···/˘····
And we gave the Cross, when we owed the Throne--	10	··········
"Thou art the Judge. We are bruised thus.	8	········
But, the Judgment over, join sides with us!	9	··/˘·····
Thine too is the cause! and not more thine	9	·········
Than ours, is the work of these dogs and swine,	10	·/········
Whose life laughs through and spits at their creed!	9	·········
Who maintain Thee in word, and defy Thee in deed!	12	·˘/····˘/···
"We withstood Christ then? Be mindful how	9	·˘/···/˘·
At least we withstand Barabbas now!	9	···˘/····
Was our outrage sore? But the worst we spared,	10	·//·······
To have called these--Christians, had we dared!	9	····/˘···
Let defiance to them pay mistrust of Thee,	11	·˘/˘···˘/··
And Rome make amends for Calvary!	9	···˘/·/˘˘
"By the torture, prolonged from age to age,	10	··/˘˘/····
By the infamy, Israel's heritage,	9	··/˘/˘/˘˘
By the Ghetto's plague, by the garb's disgrace,	10	··/˘····˘/
By the badge of shame, by the felon's place,	10	·······/˘·
By the branding-tool, the bloody whip,	9	··/˘··/˘·
And the summons to Christian fellowship,--	10	··/˘·/˘/˘·
"We boast our proof that at least the Jew	9	··/······
Would wrest Christ's name from the Devil's crew.	9	······/˘·
Thy face took never so deep a shade	8	···/····
But we fought them in it, God our aid!	9	·······/·
A trophy to bear, as we march, thy band,	10	·/˘·······
South, East, and on to the Pleasant Land!"	9	······/˘·
Among these latter busts we count by scores,	10	···/˘·····
Half-emperors and quarter-emperors,	9	·/˘·/˘/˘˘
Each with his bay-leaf fillet, loose-thonged vest,	10	·····˘/···
Loric and low-browed Gorgon on the breast,	10	·····/˘···
One loves a baby face, with violets there,	10	···/˘··/˘·
Violets instead of laurel in the hair,	10	/˘˘/·/˘···
As those were all the little locks could bear.	10	·····/˘···
Now, read here. "Protus ends a period	9	·······/˘
Of empery beginning with a god;	10	·/˘˘˘/˘···
Born in the porphyry chamber at Byzant,	10	···/˘/˘···
Queens by his cradle, proud and ministrant:	10	···/˘··/˘˘
And if he quickened breath there, 'twould like fire	10	···/˘····/
Pantingly through the dim vast realm transpire.	10	/˘˘·····˘/
A fame that he was missing spread afar:	10	·····/˘·˘/
The world from its four corners, rose in war,	10	·····/˘···
Till he was borne out on a balcony	9	·······/˘
To pacify the world when it should see.	10	·/˘·······
The captains ranged before him, one, his hand	10	·/˘·······
Made baby points at, gained the chief command.	10	·/˘·····˘/
And day by day more beautiful he grew	9	·····/˘··
In shape, all said, in feature and in hue,	10	·····/˘···
While young Greek sculptors, gazing on the child,	10	···/˘/˘···
Became with old Greek sculpture reconciled.	10	˘/···/˘/˘·
Already sages laboured to condense	10	˘/˘/˘/˘·˘/
In easy tomes a life's experience:	9	·/˘···˘/˘
And artists took grave counsel to impart	10	·/˘··/˘·˘/
In one breath and one hand-sweep, all their art,	10	··········
To make his graces prompt as blossoming	9	···/˘··/˘
Of plentifully-watered palms in spring:	10	·····/˘···
Since well beseems it, whoso mounts the throne,	10	·····/˘···
For beauty, knowledge, strength, should stand alone,	10	·/˘/˘···˘/
And mortals love the letters of his name."	10	·/˘··/˘···
--Stop! Have you turned two pages? Still the same.	10	·····/˘···
New reign, same date. The scribe goes on to say	10	··········
How that same year, on such a month and day,	10	··········
"John the Pannonian, groundedly believed	10	·····/˘˘˘/
A blacksmith's bastard, whose hard hand reprieved	10	·/·/˘···˘/
The Empire from its fate the year before,	10	·/˘·······
Came, had a mind to take the crown, and wore	10	··········
The same for six years (during which the Huns	10	·····/˘···
Kept off their fingers from us), till his sons	10	···/˘·····
Put something in his liquor"--and so forth.	10	·/˘··/˘···
Then a new reign. Stay--"Take at its just worth"	10	··········
(Subjoins an annotator) "what I give	9	···/˘˘···
As hearsay. Some think, John let Protus live	10	·/········
And slip away. 'Tis said, he reached man's age	10	··˘/······
At some blind northern court; made, first a page,	10	···/˘·····
Then tutor to the children; last, of use	10	·/˘··/˘···
About the hunting-stables. I deduce	10	···/˘/˘·˘/
He wrote the little tract 'On worming dogs,'	10	···/˘··/˘·
Whereof the name in sundry catalogues	10	·····/˘/˘·
Is extant yet. A Protus of the race	10	·/˘·······
Is rumoured to have died a monk in Thrace,	10	·/˘·······
And if the same, he reached senility."	9	······˘/˘
Here's John the Smith's rough-hammered head. Great eye,	10	·····/˘···
Gross jaw and griped lips do what granite can	10	·······/˘·
To give you the crown-grasper. What a man!	10	·····/˘···

On this poem

"Protus" sets in contrast the representations by artist and annalist of the two busts and the two lives of Protus, the baby emperor of Byzantium, born in the purple, gently nurtured and cherished, yet fated to obscurity, and of John, the blacksmith's bastard, predestined to usurp his throne and save the empire with his harder hand.

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.

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