Hymn
There is in all the sons of menA love that in the spirit dwells,That panteth after things unseen,And tidings of the future tells.
And God hath built his altar hereTo keep this fire of faith alive,And sent his priests in holy fearTo speak the truth--for truth to strive.
And hither come the pensive trainOf rich and poor, of young and old,Of ardent youth untouched by pain,Of thoughtful maids and manhood bold.
They seek a friend to speak the wordAlready trembling on their tongue,To touch with prophet's hand the chordWhich God in human hearts hath strung.
To speak the plain reproof of sinThat sounded in the soul before,And bid you let the angels inThat knock at meek contrition's door.
A friend to lift the curtain upThat hides from man the mortal goal,And with glad thoughts of faith and hopeSurprise the exulting soul.
Sole source of light and hope assured,O touch thy servant's lips with power,So shall he speak to us the wordThyself dost give forever more.
Words in this poem
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- reproof n.
- Refutation; confutation; contradiction. [OE. reproef. See Proof, Reprove.]
- exulting a.
- Rejoicing triumphantly or exceedingly; exultant.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Hymn is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Household Edition, Project Gutenberg ebook #12843; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Hymn, in Poems (1847), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12843, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/emerson-poems/hymn.html, id L07590.
Form and metre
Hymn is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABAB, in 3 of the 7 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 39% 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 -A-A men · dwellsA · unseen · tellsA
- 2 ABAB hereA · aliveB · fearA · striveB
- 3 ABAB trainA · oldB · painA · boldB
- 4 -A-A word · tongueA · chord · strungA
- 5 ABAB sinA · beforeB · inA · doorB
- 6 -A-A up · goalA · hope · soulA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| There is in all the sons of men | 8 | ········ |
| A love that in the spirit dwells, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That panteth after things unseen, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And tidings of the future tells. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And God hath built his altar here | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To keep this fire of faith alive, | 8 | ···/··˘/ |
| And sent his priests in holy fear | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To speak the truth--for truth to strive. | 8 | ········ |
| And hither come the pensive train | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Of rich and poor, of young and old, | 8 | ········ |
| Of ardent youth untouched by pain, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Of thoughtful maids and manhood bold. | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| They seek a friend to speak the word | 8 | ········ |
| Already trembling on their tongue, | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| To touch with prophet's hand the chord | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Which God in human hearts hath strung. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To speak the plain reproof of sin | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| That sounded in the soul before, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And bid you let the angels in | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That knock at meek contrition's door. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| A friend to lift the curtain up | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That hides from man the mortal goal, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And with glad thoughts of faith and hope | 8 | ········ |
| Surprise the exulting soul. | 7 | ˘/·˘/˘· |
| Sole source of light and hope assured, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| O touch thy servant's lips with power, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| So shall he speak to us the word | 8 | ········ |
| Thyself dost give forever more. | 8 | ˘/··˘/˘· |
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.