His Temptation
No fear lest praise should make us proud!We know how cheaply that is won;The idle homage of the crowdIs proof of tasks as idly done.
A surface-smile may pay the toilThat follows still the conquering Right,With soft, white hands to dress the spoilThat sun-browned valor clutched in fight.
Sing the sweet song of other days,Serenely placid, safely true,And o'er the present's parching waysThe verse distils like evening dew.
But speak in words of living power,--They fall like drops of scalding rainThat plashed before the burning showerSwept o' er the cities of the plain!
Then scowling Hate turns deadly pale,--Then Passion's half-coiled adders spring,And, smitten through their leprous mail,Strike right and left in hope to sting.
If thou, unmoved by poisoning wrath,Thy feet on earth, thy heart above,Canst walk in peace thy kingly path,Unchanged in trust, unchilled in love,--
Too kind for bitter words to grieve,Too firm for clamor to dismay,When Faith forbids thee to believe,And Meekness calls to disobey,--
Ah, then beware of mortal pride!The smiling pride that calmly scornsThose foolish fingers, crimson dyedIn laboring on thy crown of thorns!
Words in this poem
- cheaply adv.
- At a small price; at a low value; in a common or inferior manner.
- serenely adv.
- In a serene manner; clearly.
- placid a.
- Pleased; contented; unruffied; undisturbed; serene; peaceful; tranquil; quiet; gentle. [L. placidus, originally, pleasing, mild, from placere to please: cf. F. placide. See Please.]
- parching a.
- Scorching; burning; drying.
- unmoved a.
- Not moved; fixed; firm; unshaken; calm; apathetic.
- meekness n.
- The quality or state of being meek.
- beware v. t.
- To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for.
- laboring a.
- That labors; performing labor; esp., performing coarse, heavy work, not requiring skill also, set apart for labor; as, laboring days.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
His Temptation is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes — Volume 06 Poems from the Breakfast Table Series, Project Gutenberg ebook #7393; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Oliver Wendell Holmes, His Temptation, in Poems from the Breakfast-Table Series (1858), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7393, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/holmes-breakfast-table-poems/his-temptation.html, id L23577.
Form and metre
His Temptation is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 ABAB proudA · wonB · crowdA · doneB
- 2 ABAB toilA · rightB · spoilA · fightB
- 3 ABAB daysA · trueB · waysA · dewB
- 4 ABAB powerA · rainB · showerA · plainB
- 5 ABAB paleA · springB · mailA · stingB
- 6 ABAB wrathA · aboveB · pathA · loveB
- 7 ABAB grieveA · dismayB · believeA · disobeyB
- 8 ABAB prideA · scornsB · dyedA · thornsB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| No fear lest praise should make us proud! | 8 | ········ |
| We know how cheaply that is won; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The idle homage of the crowd | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Is proof of tasks as idly done. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A surface-smile may pay the toil | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That follows still the conquering Right, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| With soft, white hands to dress the spoil | 8 | ········ |
| That sun-browned valor clutched in fight. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Sing the sweet song of other days, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Serenely placid, safely true, | 8 | ˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| And o'er the present's parching ways | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The verse distils like evening dew. | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| But speak in words of living power,-- | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| They fall like drops of scalding rain | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That plashed before the burning shower | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Swept o' er the cities of the plain! | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Then scowling Hate turns deadly pale,-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Then Passion's half-coiled adders spring, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And, smitten through their leprous mail, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Strike right and left in hope to sting. | 8 | ········ |
| If thou, unmoved by poisoning wrath, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Thy feet on earth, thy heart above, | 8 | ········ |
| Canst walk in peace thy kingly path, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Unchanged in trust, unchilled in love,-- | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Too kind for bitter words to grieve, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Too firm for clamor to dismay, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| When Faith forbids thee to believe, | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| And Meekness calls to disobey,-- | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Ah, then beware of mortal pride! | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| The smiling pride that calmly scorns | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Those foolish fingers, crimson dyed | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| In laboring on thy crown of thorns! | 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.