Renewal of Strength. 33
And over the shadows of my lifeStole the light of a peace divine.
Oh! then my task was a sacred thing,How precious it grew in my eyes!'Twas mine to gather the bruised grainFor the "Lord of Paradise."
And when the reapers shall lay their grainOn the floors of golden light,I feel that mine with its broken sheavesShall be precious in His sight.
Though thorns may often pierce my feet,And the shadows still abide,The mists will vanish before His smile,There will be light at eventide.
Words in this poem
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- 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,]
- eventide n.
- The time of evening; evening. [AS. æfentid. See Tide.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Renewal of Strength. 33 is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #679; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Renewal of Strength. 33, in Poems (1854–1871), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #679, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/harper-poems/renewal-of-strength-33.html, id L10564.
Form and metre
Renewal of Strength. 33 is 14 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 98% 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. 29% 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.
- 3 -A-A grain · lightA · sheaves · sightA
- 4 -A-A feet · abideA · smile · eventideA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| And over the shadows of my life | 8 | ···/···· |
| Stole the light of a peace divine. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Oh! then my task was a sacred thing, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| How precious it grew in my eyes! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| 'Twas mine to gather the bruised grain | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For the "Lord of Paradise." | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And when the reapers shall lay their grain | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| On the floors of golden light, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| I feel that mine with its broken sheaves | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Shall be precious in His sight. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Though thorns may often pierce my feet, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And the shadows still abide, | 7 | ··/··˘/ |
| The mists will vanish before His smile, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| There will be light at eventide. | 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.