Hymn of the City
Not in the solitudeAlone may man commune with Heaven, or seeOnly in savage woodAnd sunny vale, the present Deity;Or only hear his voiceWhere the winds whisper and the waves rejoice.
Even here do I beholdThy steps, Almighty!--here, amidst the crowd,Through the great city rolled,With everlasting murmur deep and loud--Choking the ways that wind'Mongst the proud piles, the work of human kind.
Thy golden sunshine comesFrom the round heaven, and on their dwellings lies,And lights their inner homes;For them thou fill'st with air the unbounded skies,And givest them the storesOf ocean, and the harvests of its shores.
Thy Spirit is around,Quickening the restless mass that sweeps along;And this eternal sound--Voices and footfalls of the numberless throng--Like the resounding sea,Or like the rainy tempest, speaks of thee.
And when the hours of restCome, like a calm upon the mid-sea brine,Hushing its billowy breast--The quiet of that moment too is thine,It breathes of Him who keepsThe vast and helpless city while it sleeps.THE PRAIRIES. deg.
Words in this poem
- commune n.
- The commonalty; the common people. [F., fr. commun. See Common.]
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- amidst prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- choking a.
- That chokes; producing the feeling of strangulation.
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- quickening n.
- The act or process of making or of becoming quick.
- numberless a.
- Innumerable; countless.
- hushing n.
- The process of washing ore, or of uncovering mineral veins, by a heavy discharge of water from a reservoir; flushing; -- also called booming.
- billowy a.
- Of or pertaining to billows; swelling or swollen into large waves; full of billows or surges; resembling billows.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Hymn of the City is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by William Cullen Bryant, Project Gutenberg ebook #16341; 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 Cullen Bryant, Hymn of the City, in Poems (1821–1876), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16341, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bryant-poems/hymn-of-the-city.html, id L26099.
Form and metre
Hymn of the City is 31 lines in 5 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCC, in 2 of the 5 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter. 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.7 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 47% 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 ----AA solitude · see · wood · deity · voiceA · rejoiceA
- 2 ABABCC beholdA · crowdB · rolledA · loudB · windC · kindC
- 3 -A-ABB comes · liesA · homes · skiesA · storesB · shoresB
- 4 ABABCC aroundA · alongB · soundA · throngB · seaC · theeC
- 5 ABABCC- restA · brineB · breastA · thineB · keepsC · sleepsC · deg
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Not in the solitude | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Alone may man commune with Heaven, or see | 10 | ˘/··˘/·/·· |
| Only in savage wood | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| And sunny vale, the present Deity; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘˘ |
| Or only hear his voice | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Where the winds whisper and the waves rejoice. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Even here do I behold | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Thy steps, Almighty!--here, amidst the crowd, | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Through the great city rolled, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| With everlasting murmur deep and loud-- | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Choking the ways that wind | 6 | /˘···· |
| 'Mongst the proud piles, the work of human kind. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Thy golden sunshine comes | 6 | ·/˘/·· |
| From the round heaven, and on their dwellings lies, | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| And lights their inner homes; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| For them thou fill'st with air the unbounded skies, | 11 | ·······˘/˘· |
| And givest them the stores | 6 | ······ |
| Of ocean, and the harvests of its shores. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Thy Spirit is around, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Quickening the restless mass that sweeps along; | 10 | /˘·/˘···˘/ |
| And this eternal sound-- | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Voices and footfalls of the numberless throng-- | 11 | /˘·/···/˘˘· |
| Like the resounding sea, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Or like the rainy tempest, speaks of thee. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And when the hours of rest | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Come, like a calm upon the mid-sea brine, | 10 | ·········· |
| Hushing its billowy breast-- | 7 | /˘·/˘˘· |
| The quiet of that moment too is thine, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| It breathes of Him who keeps | 6 | ······ |
| The vast and helpless city while it sleeps. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| THE PRAIRIES. deg. | 4 | ·/˘· |
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.