Robinson of Leyden
HE sleeps not here; in hope and prayerHis wandering flock had gone before,But he, the shepherd, might not shareTheir sorrows on the wintry shore.
Before the Speedwell's anchor swung,Ere yet the Mayflower's sail was spread,While round his feet the Pilgrims clung,The pastor spake, and thus he said:--
"Men, brethren, sisters, children dear!God calls you hence from over sea;Ye may not build by Haerlem Meer,Nor yet along the Zuyder-Zee.
"Ye go to bear the saving wordTo tribes unnamed and shores untrod;Heed well the lessons ye have heardFrom those old teachers taught of God.
"Yet think not unto them was lentAll light for all the coming days,And Heaven's eternal wisdom spentIn making straight the ancient ways;
"The living fountain overflowsFor every flock, for every lamb,Nor heeds, though angry creeds opposeWith Luther's dike or Calvin's dam."
He spake; with lingering, long embrace,With tears of love and partings fond,They floated down the creeping Maas,Along the isle of Ysselmond.
They passed the frowning towers of Briel,The "Hook of Holland's" shelf of sand,And grated soon with lifting keelThe sullen shores of Fatherland.
No home for these!--too well they knewThe mitred king behind the throne;--The sails were set, the pennons flew,And westward ho! for worlds unknown.
And these were they who gave us birth,The Pilgrims of the sunset wave,Who won for us this virgin earth,And freedom with the soil they gave.
The pastor slumbers by the Rhine,--In alien earth the exiles lie,--Their nameless graves our holiest shrine,His words our noblest battle-cry!
Still cry them, and the world shall hear,Ye dwellers by the storm-swept sea!Ye have not built by Haerlem Meer,Nor on the land-locked Zuyder-Zee!
Words in this poem
- wintry a.
- Suitable to winter; resembling winter, or what belongs to winter; brumal; hyemal; cold; stormy; wintery. [AS. wintrig.]
- clung a.
- Wasted away; shrunken. [Prop. p. p. fr. OE. clingen to wither. See Cling, v. i.]
- meer a.
- Simple; unmixed. See Mere, a.
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- grated a.
- Furnished with a grate or grating; as, grated windows. [From 2d Grate.]
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
- fatherland n.
- One's native land; the native land of one's fathers or ancestors. [Imitated fr. D. vaderland. See Father, and Land.]
- nameless a.
- Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Robinson of Leyden 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, Robinson of Leyden, in Poems from the Breakfast-Table Series (1858), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7393, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/holmes-breakfast-table-poems/robinson-of-leyden.html, id L23576.
Form and metre
Robinson of Leyden is 48 lines in 12 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 9 of its 12 stanzas. 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 prayerA · beforeB · shareA · shoreB
- 2 ABAB swungA · spreadB · clungA · saidB
- 3 -A-A dear · seaA · meer · zeeA
- 4 ABAB wordA · untrodB · heardA · godB
- 5 ABAB lentA · daysB · spentA · waysB
- 6 ABAB overflowsA · lambB · opposeA · damB
- 7 -A-A embrace · fondA · maas · ysselmondA
- 8 ABAB brielA · sandB · keelA · fatherlandB
- 9 ABAB knewA · throneB · flewA · unknownB
- 10 ABAB birthA · waveB · earthA · gaveB
- 11 ABAB rhineA · lieB · shrineA · cryB
- 12 -A-A hear · seaA · meer · zeeA
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 sleeps not here; in hope and prayer | 8 | ········ |
| His wandering flock had gone before, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But he, the shepherd, might not share | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Their sorrows on the wintry shore. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Before the Speedwell's anchor swung, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Ere yet the Mayflower's sail was spread, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| While round his feet the Pilgrims clung, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The pastor spake, and thus he said:-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "Men, brethren, sisters, children dear! | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| God calls you hence from over sea; | 8 | ········ |
| Ye may not build by Haerlem Meer, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Nor yet along the Zuyder-Zee. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| "Ye go to bear the saving word | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To tribes unnamed and shores untrod; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Heed well the lessons ye have heard | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| From those old teachers taught of God. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "Yet think not unto them was lent | 8 | ········ |
| All light for all the coming days, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And Heaven's eternal wisdom spent | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘/˘· |
| In making straight the ancient ways; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| "The living fountain overflows | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| For every flock, for every lamb, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Nor heeds, though angry creeds oppose | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| With Luther's dike or Calvin's dam." | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| He spake; with lingering, long embrace, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| With tears of love and partings fond, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| They floated down the creeping Maas, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Along the isle of Ysselmond. | 8 | ˘/······ |
| They passed the frowning towers of Briel, | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| The "Hook of Holland's" shelf of sand, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And grated soon with lifting keel | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The sullen shores of Fatherland. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| No home for these!--too well they knew | 8 | ········ |
| The mitred king behind the throne;-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The sails were set, the pennons flew, | 8 | ········ |
| And westward ho! for worlds unknown. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And these were they who gave us birth, | 8 | ········ |
| The Pilgrims of the sunset wave, | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| Who won for us this virgin earth, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And freedom with the soil they gave. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The pastor slumbers by the Rhine,-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| In alien earth the exiles lie,-- | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| Their nameless graves our holiest shrine, | 8 | ·/˘·//˘· |
| His words our noblest battle-cry! | 8 | ··//˘/˘· |
| Still cry them, and the world shall hear, | 8 | ········ |
| Ye dwellers by the storm-swept sea! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Ye have not built by Haerlem Meer, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Nor on the land-locked Zuyder-Zee! | 8 | ········ |
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