To Horace Bumstead
Have you been sore discouraged in the fight,And even sometimes weighted by the thoughtThat those with whom and those for whom you foughtLagged far behind, or dared but faintly smite?And that the opposing forces in their mightOf blind inertia rendered as for naughtAll that throughout the long years had been wrought,And powerless each blow for Truth and Right?
If so, take new and greater courage then,And think no more withouten help you stand;For sure as God on His eternal throneSits, mindful of the sinful deeds of men,--The awful Sword of Justice in His hand,--You shall not, no, you shall not, fight alone.
Words in this poem
- mindful a.
- Bearing in mind; regardful; attentive; heedful; observant.
- 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
To Horace Bumstead 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, To Horace Bumstead, in Fifty Years and Other Poems (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17884, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-fifty-years/to-horace-bumstead.html, id L08290.
Form and metre
To Horace Bumstead is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 36% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABBAABBA fightA · thoughtB · foughtB · smiteA · mightA · naughtB · wroughtB · rightA
- 2 ABCABC thenA · standB · throneC · menA · handB · aloneC
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Have you been sore discouraged in the fight, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| And even sometimes weighted by the thought | 10 | ·/˘/·/˘··· |
| That those with whom and those for whom you fought | 10 | ·········· |
| Lagged far behind, or dared but faintly smite? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And that the opposing forces in their might | 11 | ···˘/˘/˘··· |
| Of blind inertia rendered as for naught | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| All that throughout the long years had been wrought, | 10 | ·········· |
| And powerless each blow for Truth and Right? | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| If so, take new and greater courage then, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| And think no more withouten help you stand; | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| For sure as God on His eternal throne | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Sits, mindful of the sinful deeds of men, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| --The awful Sword of Justice in His hand,-- | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| You shall not, no, you shall not, fight alone. | 10 | ········˘/ |
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.