O Southland!
O Southland! O Southland!Have you not heard the call,The trumpet blown, the word made knownTo the nations, one and all?The watchword, the hope-word,Salvation's present plan?A gospel new, for all--for you:Man shall be saved by man.
O Southland! O Southland!Do you not hear to-dayThe mighty beat of onward feet,And know you not their way?'Tis forward, 'tis upward,On to the fair white archOf Freedom's dome, and there is roomFor each man who would march.
O Southland, fair Southland!Then why do you still clingTo an idle age and a musty page,To a dead and useless thing?'Tis springtime! 'Tis work-time!The world is young again!And God's above, and God is love,And men are only men.
O Southland! my Southland!O birthland! do not shirkThe toilsome task, nor respite ask,But gird you for the work.Remember, rememberThat weakness stalks in pride;That he is strong who helps alongThe faint one at his side.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- springtime n.
- The season of spring; springtide.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
O Southland! is in the public domain. This text is taken from Fifty Years, & Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #17884; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: James Weldon Johnson, O Southland!, in Fifty Years and Other Poems (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17884, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-fifty-years/o-southland.html, id L08289.
Form and metre
O Southland! is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.7 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 southland · callA · known · allA · word · planB · you · manB
- 2 -A-A-B-B southland · dayA · feet · wayA · upward · archB · room · marchB
- 3 -A-A-B-B southland · clingA · page · thingA · time · againB · love · menB
- 4 -A-A-B-B southland · shirkA · ask · workA · remember · prideB · along · sideB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| O Southland! O Southland! | 6 | ·/··/· |
| Have you not heard the call, | 6 | ······ |
| The trumpet blown, the word made known | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To the nations, one and all? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| The watchword, the hope-word, | 6 | ·/···· |
| Salvation's present plan? | 6 | ˘/˘/˘· |
| A gospel new, for all--for you: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Man shall be saved by man. | 6 | ······ |
| O Southland! O Southland! | 6 | ·/··/· |
| Do you not hear to-day | 6 | ······ |
| The mighty beat of onward feet, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And know you not their way? | 6 | ······ |
| 'Tis forward, 'tis upward, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| On to the fair white arch | 6 | ······ |
| Of Freedom's dome, and there is room | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For each man who would march. | 6 | ······ |
| O Southland, fair Southland! | 6 | ·/··/· |
| Then why do you still cling | 6 | ······ |
| To an idle age and a musty page, | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| To a dead and useless thing? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| 'Tis springtime! 'Tis work-time! | 6 | ·/···· |
| The world is young again! | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And God's above, and God is love, | 8 | ········ |
| And men are only men. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| O Southland! my Southland! | 6 | ·/··/· |
| O birthland! do not shirk | 6 | ······ |
| The toilsome task, nor respite ask, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But gird you for the work. | 6 | ······ |
| Remember, remember | 6 | ˘/˘˘/˘ |
| That weakness stalks in pride; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| That he is strong who helps along | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The faint one at his side. | 6 | ······ |
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.