Sung in the Town Hall, Concord, July 4, 1857
O tenderly the haughty dayFills his blue urn with fire;One morn is in the mighty heaven,And one in our desire.
The cannon booms from town to town,Our pulses beat not less,The joy-bells chime their tidings down,Which children's voices bless.
For He that flung the broad blue foldO'er-mantling land and sea,One third part of the sky unrolledFor the banner of the free.
The men are ripe of Saxon kindTo build an equal state,--To take the statute from the mindAnd make of duty fate.
United States! the ages plead,--Present and Past in under-song,--Go put your creed into your deed,Nor speak with double tongue.
For sea and land don't understand,Nor skies without a frownSee rights for which the one hand fightsBy the other cloven down.
Be just at home; then write your scrollOf honor o'er the sea,And bid the broad Atlantic roll,A ferry of the free.
And henceforth there shall be no chain,Save underneath the seaThe wires shall murmur through the mainSweet songs of liberty.
The conscious stars accord above,The waters wild below,And under, through the cable wove,Her fiery errands go.
For He that worketh high and wise.Nor pauses in his plan,Will take the sun out of the skiesEre freedom out of man.
Words in this poem
- tenderly adv.
- In a tender manner; with tenderness; mildly; gently; softly; in a manner not to injure or give pain; with pity or affection; kindly.
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- chime n.
- The harmonious sound of bells, or of musical instruments. [OE. chimbe, prop., cymbal, OF. cymbe, cymble, in a dialectic form, chymble, F. cymbale, L. cymbalum, fr. Gr. Cymbal.]
- mantling n.
- The representation of a mantle, or the drapery behind and around a coat of arms: -- called also lambrequin.
- henceforth adv.
- From this time forward; henceforward.
- 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,]
- wove
- p. pr. & rare vb. n. of Weave.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sung in the Town Hall, Concord, July 4, 1857 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 in the Town Hall, Concord, July 4, 1857, in Poems (1847), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12843, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/emerson-poems/sung-in-the-town-hall-concord-july-4-1857.html, id L07445.
Form and metre
Sung in the Town Hall, Concord, July 4, 1857 is 40 lines in 10 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.3 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% 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 day · fireA · heaven · desireA
- 2 ABAB townA · lessB · downA · blessB
- 3 ABAB foldA · seaB · unrolledA · freeB
- 4 ABAB kindA · stateB · mindA · fateB
- 5 A-A- pleadA · song · deedA · tongue
- 6 -A-A understand · frownA · fights · downA
- 7 ABAB scrollA · seaB · rollA · freeB
- 8 A-A- chainA · sea · mainA · liberty
- 9 -A-A above · belowA · wove · goA
- 10 ABAB wiseA · planB · skiesA · manB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O tenderly the haughty day | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Fills his blue urn with fire; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| One morn is in the mighty heaven, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| And one in our desire. | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| The cannon booms from town to town, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Our pulses beat not less, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| The joy-bells chime their tidings down, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Which children's voices bless. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| For He that flung the broad blue fold | 8 | ········ |
| O'er-mantling land and sea, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| One third part of the sky unrolled | 8 | ········ |
| For the banner of the free. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| The men are ripe of Saxon kind | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To build an equal state,-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| To take the statute from the mind | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And make of duty fate. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| United States! the ages plead,-- | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Present and Past in under-song,-- | 8 | /˘······ |
| Go put your creed into your deed, | 8 | ········ |
| Nor speak with double tongue. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| For sea and land don't understand, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Nor skies without a frown | 6 | ······ |
| See rights for which the one hand fights | 8 | ········ |
| By the other cloven down. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Be just at home; then write your scroll | 8 | ········ |
| Of honor o'er the sea, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And bid the broad Atlantic roll, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| A ferry of the free. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And henceforth there shall be no chain, | 8 | ·//····· |
| Save underneath the sea | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| The wires shall murmur through the main | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| Sweet songs of liberty. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| The conscious stars accord above, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| The waters wild below, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And under, through the cable wove, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Her fiery errands go. | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| For He that worketh high and wise. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Nor pauses in his plan, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Will take the sun out of the skies | 8 | ········ |
| Ere freedom out of man. | 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.