Religion and Doctrine
He stood before the Sanhedrim;The scowling rabbis gazed at him.He recked not of their praise or blame;There was no fear, there was no shame,For one upon whose dazzled eyesThe whole world poured its vast surprise.The open heaven was far too near,His first day's light too sweet and clear,To let him waste his new-gained kenOn the hate-clouded face of men.
But still they questioned, "Who art thou?What hast thou been? What art thou now?Thou art not he who yesterdaySat here and begged beside the way;For he was blind."
He told the story o'er and o'er;It was his full heart's only lore:A prophet on the Sabbath-dayHad touched his sightless eyes with clay,And made him see who had been blind.Their words passed by him like the wind,Which raves and howls, but cannot shockThe hundred-fathom-rooted rock.
Their threats and fury all went wide;They could not touch his Hebrew pride.Their sneers at Jesus and His band,Nameless and homeless in the land,Their boasts of Moses and his Lord,All could not change him by one word.
"I know not what this man may be,Sinner or saint; but as for me,One thing I know,--that I am heWho once was blind, and now I see."
They were all doctors of renown,The great men of a famous town,With deep brows, wrinkled, broad, and wise,Beneath their wide phylacteries;The wisdom of the East was theirs,And honour crowned their silver hairs.The man they jeered and laughed to scornWas unlearned, poor, and humbly born;But he knew better far than theyWhat came to him that Sabbath-day;And what the Christ had done for himHe knew, and not the Sanhedrim.
Words in this poem
- sanhedrim n.
- the great council of the Jews, which consisted of seventy members, to whom the high priest was added. It had jurisdiction of religious matters. [Heb. sanhedrin, fr. Gr. Sit.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- sightless a.
- Wanting sight; without sight; blind.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- nameless a.
- Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.
- homeless a.
- Destitute of a home. [AS.hamleas.]
- sinner n.
- One who has sinned; especially, one who has sinned without repenting; hence, a persistent and incorrigible transgressor; one condemned by the law of God.
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- humbly adv.
- With humility; lowly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Religion and Doctrine is in the public domain. This text is taken from Pike County Ballads and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #6062; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Hay, Religion and Doctrine, in Pike County Ballads and Other Poems (1871), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6062, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hay-pike-county/religion-and-doctrine.html, id L21611.
Form and metre
Religion and Doctrine is 45 lines in 6 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 84% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABBCCDDEE sanhedrimA · himA · blameB · shameB · eyesC · surpriseC · nearD · clearD · kenE · menE
- 2 AABB- thouA · nowA · yesterdayB · wayB · blind
- 3 --AABBCC o'er · lore · dayA · clayA · blindB · windB · shockC · rockC
- 4 AABB-- wideA · prideA · bandB · landB · lord · word
- 5 AAAA beA · meA · heA · seeA
- 6 AA--BBCCDDEE renownA · townA · wise · phylacteries · theirsB · hairsB · scornC · bornC · theyD · dayD · himE · sanhedrimE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| He stood before the Sanhedrim; | 8 | ········ |
| The scowling rabbis gazed at him. | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| He recked not of their praise or blame; | 8 | ········ |
| There was no fear, there was no shame, | 8 | ········ |
| For one upon whose dazzled eyes | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The whole world poured its vast surprise. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The open heaven was far too near, | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| His first day's light too sweet and clear, | 8 | ········ |
| To let him waste his new-gained ken | 8 | ········ |
| On the hate-clouded face of men. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But still they questioned, "Who art thou? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| What hast thou been? What art thou now? | 8 | ········ |
| Thou art not he who yesterday | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Sat here and begged beside the way; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| For he was blind." | 4 | ···· |
| He told the story o'er and o'er; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| It was his full heart's only lore: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A prophet on the Sabbath-day | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Had touched his sightless eyes with clay, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And made him see who had been blind. | 8 | ········ |
| Their words passed by him like the wind, | 8 | ········ |
| Which raves and howls, but cannot shock | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The hundred-fathom-rooted rock. | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Their threats and fury all went wide; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| They could not touch his Hebrew pride. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Their sneers at Jesus and His band, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Nameless and homeless in the land, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Their boasts of Moses and his Lord, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| All could not change him by one word. | 8 | ········ |
| "I know not what this man may be, | 8 | ········ |
| Sinner or saint; but as for me, | 8 | /˘······ |
| One thing I know,--that I am he | 8 | ········ |
| Who once was blind, and now I see." | 8 | ········ |
| They were all doctors of renown, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The great men of a famous town, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With deep brows, wrinkled, broad, and wise, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Beneath their wide phylacteries; | 7 | ······· |
| The wisdom of the East was theirs, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And honour crowned their silver hairs. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The man they jeered and laughed to scorn | 8 | ········ |
| Was unlearned, poor, and humbly born; | 9 | ·˘/˘··/˘· |
| But he knew better far than they | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| What came to him that Sabbath-day; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And what the Christ had done for him | 8 | ········ |
| He knew, and not the Sanhedrim. | 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.