To My Patrons
The spear rent Christ, when dead for me He lay:My sin rends Christ, though never one save HePerfectly loves me, comforts me. Then pray,Longinus Saint! the Crucified, for me.
Hard is the holy-war, and hard the way:At rest with ancient victors would I be.O faith's first glory from our England! pray,Saint Alban! to the Lord of Hosts, for me.
Fain would I watch with thee, till morning gray,Beneath the stars austere: so might I seeSunrise, and light, and joy, at last. Then pray,John Baptist Saint! unto the Christ, for me.
Remembering God's coronation day;Thorns, for His crown; His throne, a Cross: to theeHeaven's kingdom dearer was than earth's. Then praySaint Louis! to the King of kings, for me.
Thy love loved all things: thy love knew no stay,But drew the very wild beasts round thy knee.O lover of the least and lowest! pray,Saint Francis! to the Son of Man, for me.
Bishop of souls in servitude astray,Who didst for holy service set them free:Use still thy discipline of love, and pray,Saint Charles! unto the world's High Priest, for me.
Words in this poem
- alban n.
- A white crystalline resinous substance extracted from gutta- percha by the action of alcohol or ether. [L. albus white.]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- coronation n.
- The act or solemnity of crowning a sovereign; the act of investing a prince with the insignia of royalty, on his succeeding to the sovereignty. [See Coronate.]
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To My Patrons 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, To My Patrons, in Poems (1895), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66520, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-lionel-poems/to-my-patrons.html, id L12528.
Form and metre
To My Patrons is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 17% 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 ABAB layA · heB · prayA · meB
- 2 ABAB wayA · beB · prayA · meB
- 3 ABAB grayA · seeB · prayA · meB
- 4 ABAB dayA · theeB · prayA · meB
- 5 ABAB stayA · kneeB · prayA · meB
- 6 ABAB astrayA · freeB · prayA · meB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The spear rent Christ, when dead for me He lay: | 10 | ·········· |
| My sin rends Christ, though never one save He | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Perfectly loves me, comforts me. Then pray, | 10 | /˘˘··/˘··· |
| Longinus Saint! the Crucified, for me. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Hard is the holy-war, and hard the way: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| At rest with ancient victors would I be. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| O faith's first glory from our England! pray, | 10 | ···/˘·//˘· |
| Saint Alban! to the Lord of Hosts, for me. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Fain would I watch with thee, till morning gray, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Beneath the stars austere: so might I see | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Sunrise, and light, and joy, at last. Then pray, | 10 | /········· |
| John Baptist Saint! unto the Christ, for me. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Remembering God's coronation day; | 10 | ˘/˘˘··˘/˘· |
| Thorns, for His crown; His throne, a Cross: to thee | 10 | ·········· |
| Heaven's kingdom dearer was than earth's. Then pray | 11 | /˘/˘/˘····· |
| Saint Louis! to the King of kings, for me. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Thy love loved all things: thy love knew no stay, | 10 | ·········· |
| But drew the very wild beasts round thy knee. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| O lover of the least and lowest! pray, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Saint Francis! to the Son of Man, for me. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Bishop of souls in servitude astray, | 10 | /˘···/˘·˘/ |
| Who didst for holy service set them free: | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Use still thy discipline of love, and pray, | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| Saint Charles! unto the world's High Priest, for me. | 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.