Men of Assisi
A crown of roses and of thorns;A crown of roses and of bay:Each crown of loveliness adornsAssisi, gleaming far awayOn Umbrian heights, in Umbrian day.
One bloomed, when Cynthia's lover sangCynthia, and revelry, and Rome:And one his wounded hands did hang,Whose heart was lovelier Love's dear home;And his, an holier martyrdom.
Are the spring roses round thine head,Propertius! as they were of old?In the gray deserts of the dead,Glows any wine in cups of gold?Not all the truth, dead Cynthia told!
And round thine head, so lowly fair,Saint Francis! thorns no longer close:Paradise roses may be there,And Mary lilies: only those.Thy sister, Death, hurt not thy rose.
We to thy shade, with song and wine,Libation make, Propertius!While suns or stars of summer shine,Thy passionate music thrills through us:Hail to thee, hail! We crown thee, thus.
But when our hearts are chill and faint,Pierced with true sorrow piteous:Francis! our brother and God's Saint,We worship thee, we hail thee, thus:Praying, Sweet Francis! pray for us.
O city on the Umbrian hills:Assisi, mother of such sons!What glory of remembrance fillsThine heart, whereof the legend runs:These are among my vanished ones.
Words in this poem
- loveliness n.
- The state or quality of being lovely. [From Lovely.]
- martyrdom n.
- The condition of a martyr; the death of a martyr; the suffering of death on account of adherence to the Christian faith, or to any cause. [Martyr + -dom.]
- libation n.
- The act of pouring a liquid or liquor, usually wine, either on the ground or on a victim in sacrifice, in honor of some deity; also, the wine or liquid thus poured out. [L. libatio, fr. libare to take a little from anything, to taste, to pour out as an offering: cf. F. libation.]
- whereof adv.
- Of which; of whom; formerly, also, with which; -- used relatively.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Men of Assisi is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #66520; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Lionel Johnson, Men of Assisi, in Poems (1895), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66520, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-lionel-poems/men-of-assisi.html, id L12513.
Form and metre
Men of Assisi is 35 lines in 7 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABB, complete in 5 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 ABABB thornsA · bayB · adornsA · awayB · dayB
- 2 ABABB sangA · romeB · hangA · homeB · martyrdomB
- 3 ABABB headA · oldB · deadA · goldB · toldB
- 4 ABABB fairA · closeB · thereA · thoseB · roseB
- 5 A-ABB wineA · propertius · shineA · usB · thusB
- 6 A-ABB faintA · piteous · saintA · thusB · usB
- 7 ABABB hillsA · sonsB · fillsA · runsB · onesB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A crown of roses and of thorns; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A crown of roses and of bay: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Each crown of loveliness adorns | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| Assisi, gleaming far away | 8 | ˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| On Umbrian heights, in Umbrian day. | 8 | ········ |
| One bloomed, when Cynthia's lover sang | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Cynthia, and revelry, and Rome: | 8 | /˘·/˘˘·· |
| And one his wounded hands did hang, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Whose heart was lovelier Love's dear home; | 9 | ········· |
| And his, an holier martyrdom. | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Are the spring roses round thine head, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Propertius! as they were of old? | 8 | ········ |
| In the gray deserts of the dead, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Glows any wine in cups of gold? | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Not all the truth, dead Cynthia told! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And round thine head, so lowly fair, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Saint Francis! thorns no longer close: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Paradise roses may be there, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| And Mary lilies: only those. | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Thy sister, Death, hurt not thy rose. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| We to thy shade, with song and wine, | 8 | ········ |
| Libation make, Propertius! | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| While suns or stars of summer shine, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thy passionate music thrills through us: | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Hail to thee, hail! We crown thee, thus. | 8 | ········ |
| But when our hearts are chill and faint, | 8 | ··/····· |
| Pierced with true sorrow piteous: | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Francis! our brother and God's Saint, | 8 | /˘//˘··· |
| We worship thee, we hail thee, thus: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Praying, Sweet Francis! pray for us. | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| O city on the Umbrian hills: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Assisi, mother of such sons! | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| What glory of remembrance fills | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Thine heart, whereof the legend runs: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| These are among my vanished ones. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
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