Sung at the Second Church, at the Ordination of Rev. Chandler Robbins
We love the venerable houseOur fathers built to God;--In heaven are kept their grateful vows,Their dust endears the sod.
Here holy thoughts a light have shedFrom many a radiant face,And prayers of humble virtue madeThe perfume of the place.
And anxious hearts have pondered hereThe mystery of life,And prayed the eternal Light to clearTheir doubts, and aid their strife.
From humble tenements aroundCame up the pensive train,And in the church a blessing foundThat filled their homes again;
For faith and peace and mighty loveThat from the Godhead flow,Showed them the life of Heaven aboveSprings from the life below.
They live with God; their homes are dust;Yet here their children pray,And in this fleeting lifetime trustTo find the narrow way.
On him who by the altar stands,On him thy blessing fall,Speak through his lips thy pure commands,Thou heart that lovest all.
Words in this poem
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- lifetime n.
- The time that life continues.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sung at the Second Church, at the Ordination of Rev. Chandler Robbins 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, Sung at the Second Church, at the Ordination of Rev. Chandler Robbins, in Poems (1847), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12843, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/emerson-poems/sung-at-the-second-church-at-the-ordination-of-rev-chandler-.html, id L07457.
Form and metre
Sung at the Second Church, at the Ordination of Rev. Chandler Robbins is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 36% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 house · godA · vows · sodA
- 2 -A-A shed · faceA · made · placeA
- 3 ABAB hereA · lifeB · clearA · strifeB
- 4 ABAB aroundA · trainB · foundA · againB
- 5 ABAB loveA · flowB · aboveA · belowB
- 6 ABAB dustA · prayB · trustA · wayB
- 7 ABAB standsA · fallB · commandsA · allB
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| We love the venerable house | 8 | ···/˘˘˘· |
| Our fathers built to God;-- | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| In heaven are kept their grateful vows, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Their dust endears the sod. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Here holy thoughts a light have shed | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| From many a radiant face, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘· |
| And prayers of humble virtue made | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The perfume of the place. | 6 | ·˘/··· |
| And anxious hearts have pondered here | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The mystery of life, | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| And prayed the eternal Light to clear | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
| Their doubts, and aid their strife. | 6 | ······ |
| From humble tenements around | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Came up the pensive train, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And in the church a blessing found | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That filled their homes again; | 7 | ··˘··˘/ |
| For faith and peace and mighty love | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That from the Godhead flow, | 6 | ···/·· |
| Showed them the life of Heaven above | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Springs from the life below. | 6 | ······ |
| They live with God; their homes are dust; | 8 | ········ |
| Yet here their children pray, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And in this fleeting lifetime trust | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| To find the narrow way. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| On him who by the altar stands, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| On him thy blessing fall, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Speak through his lips thy pure commands, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Thou heart that lovest all. | 6 | ······ |
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.