Hymn
When storms ariseAnd dark'ning skiesAbout me threat'ning lower,To thee, O Lord, I raise mine eyes,To thee my tortured spirit fliesFor solace in that hour.
The mighty armWill let no harmCome near me nor befall me;Thy voice shall quiet my alarm,When life's great battle waxeth warm--No foeman shall appall me.
Upon thy breastSecure I rest,From sorrow and vexation;No more by sinful cares oppressed,But in thy presence ever blest,O God of my salvation.
Words in this poem
- solace n.
- Comfort in grief; alleviation of grief or anxiety; also, that which relieves in distress; that which cheers or consoles; relief. [OF. solas, ssoulaz, L. solacium, solatium, fr. solari to comfort, console. Cf. Console, v. t.]
- 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,]
- foeman n.
- An enemy in war. [AS. fhman.]
- appall v. t.
- To make pale; to blanch. [OF. appalir to grow pale, make pale; a (L. ad) + pâlir to grow pale, to make pale, pâle pale. See Pale, a., and cf. Pall.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Hymn is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar, Project Gutenberg ebook #18338; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Paul Laurence Dunbar, Hymn, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/hymn.html, id L00564.
Form and metre
Hymn is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.3 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% 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 AA-AA- ariseA · skiesA · lower · eyesA · fliesA · hour
- 2 AABA-B armA · harmA · meB · alarmA · warm · meB
- 3 AABAAB breastA · restA · vexationB · oppressedA · blestA · salvationB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When storms arise | 4 | ··˘/ |
| And dark'ning skies | 4 | ···· |
| About me threat'ning lower, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| To thee, O Lord, I raise mine eyes, | 8 | ········ |
| To thee my tortured spirit flies | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| For solace in that hour. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| The mighty arm | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Will let no harm | 4 | ···· |
| Come near me nor befall me; | 7 | ····˘/· |
| Thy voice shall quiet my alarm, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| When life's great battle waxeth warm-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| No foeman shall appall me. | 7 | ·/˘·˘/· |
| Upon thy breast | 4 | ···· |
| Secure I rest, | 4 | ˘/·· |
| From sorrow and vexation; | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| No more by sinful cares oppressed, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| But in thy presence ever blest, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| O God of my salvation. | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
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.