The Prayer of the Romans
Not done, but near its ending,Is the work that our eyes desired;Not yet fulfilled, but near the goal,Is the hope that our worn hearts fired.And on the Alban Mountains,Where the blushes of dawn increase,We see the flash of the beautiful feetOf Freedom and of Peace!
How long were our fond dreams baffled!--Novara's sad mischance,The Kaiser's sword and fetter-lock,And the traitor stab of France;Till at last came glorious Venice,In storm and tempest home;And now God maddens the greedy kings,And gives to her people Rome.
Lame Lion of Caprera!Red-shirts of the lost campaigns!Not idly shed was the costly bloodYou poured from generous veins.For the shame of Aspromonte,And the stain of Mentana's sod,But forged the curse of kings that sprangFrom your breaking hearts to God!
We lift our souls to Thee, O LordOf Liberty and of Light!Let not earth's kings pollute the workThat was done in their despite;Let not Thy light be darkenedIn the shade of a sordid crown,Nor pampered swine devour the fruitThou shook'st with an earthquake down!
Let the People come to their birthright,And crosier and crown pass awayLike phantasms that flit o'er the marshesAt the glance of the clean, white day.And then from the lava of AEtnaTo the ice of the Alps let there beOne freedom, one faith without fetters,One republic in Italy free!
Words in this poem
- alban n.
- A white crystalline resinous substance extracted from gutta- percha by the action of alcohol or ether. [L. albus white.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- generous a.
- Of honorable birth or origin; highborn. [F. généreux, fr. L. generous of noble birth, noble, excellent, magnanimous, fr. genus birth, race: cf. It. generoso. See 2d Gender.]
- sordid a.
- Filthy; foul; dirty. [L. sordidus, fr. sordere to be filthy or dirty; probably akin to E. swart: cf. F. sordide. See Swart, a.]
- pampered a.
- Fed luxuriously; indulged to the full; hence, luxuriant.
- crosier n.
- The pastoral staff of a bishop (also of an archbishop, being the symbol of his office as a shepherd of the flock of God. [OE. rocer, croser, croyser, fr. croce crosier, OF. croce, croche, F. crosse, fr. LL. crocea, crocia, from the same German or Celtic sourse as F. croc hook; akin]
- flit a.
- Nimble; quick; swift. See Fleet.
- republic n.
- Common weal. B. Jonson. [F. république, L. respublica commonwealth; res a thing, an affair + publicus, publica, public. See Real, a., and Public.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Prayer of the Romans 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, The Prayer of the Romans, in Pike County Ballads and Other Poems (1871), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6062, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hay-pike-county/the-prayer-of-the-romans.html, id L21579.
Form and metre
The Prayer of the Romans is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%).
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-B-B ending · desiredA · goal · firedA · mountains · increaseB · feet · peaceB
- 2 -A-A-B-B baffled · mischanceA · lock · franceA · venice · homeB · kings · romeB
- 3 -A-A-B-B caprera · campaignsA · blood · veinsA · aspromonte · sodB · sprang · godB
- 4 -A-A-B-B lord · lightA · work · despiteA · darkened · crownB · fruit · downB
- 5 -A-A-B-B birthright · awayA · marshes · dayA · aetna · beB · fetters · freeB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Not done, but near its ending, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Is the work that our eyes desired; | 9 | ····/·˘/˘ |
| Not yet fulfilled, but near the goal, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Is the hope that our worn hearts fired. | 9 | ····/··/˘ |
| And on the Alban Mountains, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Where the blushes of dawn increase, | 8 | ··/˘··/· |
| We see the flash of the beautiful feet | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Of Freedom and of Peace! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| How long were our fond dreams baffled!-- | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Novara's sad mischance, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The Kaiser's sword and fetter-lock, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And the traitor stab of France; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Till at last came glorious Venice, | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| In storm and tempest home; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And now God maddens the greedy kings, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| And gives to her people Rome. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Lame Lion of Caprera! | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Red-shirts of the lost campaigns! | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Not idly shed was the costly blood | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| You poured from generous veins. | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| For the shame of Aspromonte, | 7 | ······· |
| And the stain of Mentana's sod, | 8 | ········ |
| But forged the curse of kings that sprang | 8 | ········ |
| From your breaking hearts to God! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| We lift our souls to Thee, O Lord | 8 | ··/····· |
| Of Liberty and of Light! | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Let not earth's kings pollute the work | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| That was done in their despite; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Let not Thy light be darkened | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| In the shade of a sordid crown, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Nor pampered swine devour the fruit | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Thou shook'st with an earthquake down! | 7 | ····/·· |
| Let the People come to their birthright, | 9 | ··/˘···/· |
| And crosier and crown pass away | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Like phantasms that flit o'er the marshes | 10 | ··/˘····/˘ |
| At the glance of the clean, white day. | 8 | ········ |
| And then from the lava of AEtna | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| To the ice of the Alps let there be | 9 | ········· |
| One freedom, one faith without fetters, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| One republic in Italy free! | 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.