Vexilla Regis: The Hymn of the Holy Crosse
Look vp, languisting soul! Lo, where the fairBadge of thy faith calls back thy care,And biddes thee ne're forgetThy life is one long debtOf loue, to Him, Who on this painfull treePaid back the flesh He took for thee.
Lo, how the streames of life, from that full nestOf loues, Thy Lord's too liberall brest,Flow in an amorous floudOf water wedding blood.With these He wash't thy stain, transferred thy smart,And took it home to His own heart.
But though great Love, greedy of such sad gain,Vsurpt the portion of thy pain,And from the nailes and spearTurn'd the steel point of fear:Their vse is chang'd, not lost; and now they moueNot stings of wrath, but wounds of loue.
Tall tree of life! thy truth makes goodWhat was till now ne're understood,Though the prophetick kingStruck lowd his faithfull string:It was thy wood he meant should make the throneFor a more than Salomon.
Large throne of Loue! royally spredWith purple of too rich a red:Thy crime is too much duty;Thy burthen, too much beauty;Glorious or greiuous more? thus to make goodThy costly excellence with thy King's own blood.
Euen ballance of both worlds! our world of sin,And that of grace, Heaun-way'd in Him:Vs with our price thou weighed'st;Our price for vs thou payed'st,Soon as the right-hand scale reioyc't to proueHow much Death weigh'd more light then Loue.
Hail, our alone hope! let thy fair head shootAloft, and fill the nations with thy noble fruit:The while our hearts and weThus graft our selues on thee,Grow thou and they. And be thy fair increaseThe sinner's pardon and the iust man's peace.
Liue, O for euer liue and reignThe Lamb Whom His own loue hath slain!And let Thy lost sheep liue to inheritThat kingdom which this Crosse did merit. Amen.
Words in this poem
- painfull a.
- Full of pain; causing uneasiness or distress, either physical or mental; afflictive; disquieting; distressing
- liberall a.
- Free by birth; hence, befitting a freeman or gentleman; refined; noble; independent; free; not servile or mean; as, a liberal ancestry; a liberal spirit; liberal arts or studies. [F. libéral, L. liberalis, from liber free; perh. akin to libet, lubet,it pleases, E. lief. Cf. Deliver.]
- faithfull a.
- Full of faith, or having faith; disposed to believe, especially in the declarations and promises of God.
- royally adv.
- In a royal or kingly manner; like a king; as becomes a king.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- crosse n.
- The implement with which the ball is thrown and caught in the game of lacrosse.
- amen interj.
- An expression used at the end of prayers, and meaning, So be it. At the end of a creed, it is a solemn asseveration of belief. [L. amen, Gr. am certainly, truly.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Vexilla Regis: The Hymn of the Holy Crosse is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Works of Richard Crashaw, Volume I, Project Gutenberg ebook #38549; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Richard Crashaw, Vexilla Regis: The Hymn of the Holy Crosse, in Steps to the Temple and Other Poems (1646–1652), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #38549, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/crashaw-poems/vexilla-regis-the-hymn-of-the-holy-crosse.html, id L12048.
Form and metre
Vexilla Regis: The Hymn of the Holy Crosse is 46 lines in 8 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABBCC, complete in 4 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.4 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 41% 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 AABBCC fairA · careA · forgetB · debtB · treeC · theeC
- 2 AA--BB nestA · brestA · floud · blood · smartB · heartB
- 3 AABBCC gainA · painA · spearB · fearB · moueC · loueC
- 4 AABBCC goodA · understoodA · kingB · stringB · throneC · salomonC
- 5 --AABB spred · red · dutyA · beautyA · goodB · bloodB
- 6 --AABB sin · him · weighed'stA · payed'stA · proueB · loueB
- 7 AABBCC shootA · fruitA · weB · theeB · increaseC · peaceC
- 8 AA-- reignA · slainA · inherit · amen
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Look vp, languisting soul! Lo, where the fair | 10 | ·········· |
| Badge of thy faith calls back thy care, | 8 | ········ |
| And biddes thee ne're forget | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Thy life is one long debt | 6 | ······ |
| Of loue, to Him, Who on this painfull tree | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Paid back the flesh He took for thee. | 8 | ········ |
| Lo, how the streames of life, from that full nest | 10 | ·········· |
| Of loues, Thy Lord's too liberall brest, | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Flow in an amorous floud | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Of water wedding blood. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| With these He wash't thy stain, transferred thy smart, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| And took it home to His own heart. | 8 | ········ |
| But though great Love, greedy of such sad gain, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Vsurpt the portion of thy pain, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And from the nailes and spear | 6 | ······ |
| Turn'd the steel point of fear: | 6 | ······ |
| Their vse is chang'd, not lost; and now they moue | 10 | ·········· |
| Not stings of wrath, but wounds of loue. | 8 | ········ |
| Tall tree of life! thy truth makes good | 8 | ········ |
| What was till now ne're understood, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Though the prophetick king | 6 | ······ |
| Struck lowd his faithfull string: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| It was thy wood he meant should make the throne | 10 | ·········· |
| For a more than Salomon. | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Large throne of Loue! royally spred | 9 | ····/˘˘·˘ |
| With purple of too rich a red: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thy crime is too much duty; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Thy burthen, too much beauty; | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Glorious or greiuous more? thus to make good | 10 | /˘˘······· |
| Thy costly excellence with thy King's own blood. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Euen ballance of both worlds! our world of sin, | 10 | ·/˘···/··· |
| And that of grace, Heaun-way'd in Him: | 8 | ········ |
| Vs with our price thou weighed'st; | 9 | //·/˘···· |
| Our price for vs thou payed'st, | 8 | /˘··/˘·· |
| Soon as the right-hand scale reioyc't to proue | 9 | ········· |
| How much Death weigh'd more light then Loue. | 8 | ········ |
| Hail, our alone hope! let thy fair head shoot | 10 | ·/˘/······ |
| Aloft, and fill the nations with thy noble fruit: | 12 | ˘/···/˘··/˘· |
| The while our hearts and we | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Thus graft our selues on thee, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Grow thou and they. And be thy fair increase | 10 | ········˘/ |
| The sinner's pardon and the iust man's peace. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Liue, O for euer liue and reign | 7 | ······· |
| The Lamb Whom His own loue hath slain! | 8 | ········ |
| And let Thy lost sheep liue to inherit | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| That kingdom which this Crosse did merit. Amen. | 11 | ·/˘····/˘˘/ |
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.