To the Rev. Stewart Headlam
Praise ye Him, with virginals and organs:Praise ye Him, with timbrel and flute!Come from the field, glorify His temple,With red corn, with the ripe first fruit.
He is God, who brought us out from Egypt,Gave us lands of vineyard and oil:He is God, who made the Kings of Canaan,Made their kingdoms, to be our spoil.
Praise ye Him, with psaltery and cymbal:Praise ye Him, with viol and harp!Through the Wilderness, through the rough places,Led He us, for whom Death grew sharp.
Sinai, with thunders and with voices,Praised our God, the Giver of Law:Jordan stayed the rushing of his waters;Israel passed over, and saw:
Saw the plenty, saw the Land of Promise,Saw, and praised Him, the Lord of lords:King of armies, terrible and holy;Light to our eyes, and strength to our swords.
Where be now the gods of all the nations?Where is Baal? Where Ashtaroth?Fallen! fallen! before the God of Jacob:None withstood the day of His wrath.
Praise ye Him, with virginals and organs:Praise ye Him, with music and voice!Praise the Name of the Lord God Jehovah:Praise Him, praise Him, ye Tribes His choice!
Words in this poem
- timbrel n.
- A kind of drum, tabor, or tabret, in use from the highest antiquity. [Dim. of OE. timbre, OF. timbre; probably fr. L. typmanum, Gr. tabl a drum; cf. Per. tambal a drum. See Tympanum, and cf. 2d Timbre, Tymbal.]
- glorify v. t.
- To make glorious by bestowing glory upon; to confer honor and distinction upon; to elevate to power or happiness, or to celestial glory. [F. glorifier, L. glorificare; gloria glory + - ficare (in comp.) to make. See -fy.]
- vineyard n.
- An inclosure or yard for grapevines; a plantation of vines producing grapes. [For OE. winyard, AS. wingeard; influenced by E. vine. See Wine, and Yard an inclosure.]
- psaltery n.
- A stringed instrument of music used by the Hebrews, the form of which is not known. [OE. sautrie, OF. psalterie, F. psaltérion, L. psalterium psaltery, psalter, from Gr. Psalm, Psalter.]
- cymbal n.
- A musical instrument used by the ancients. It is supposed to have been similar to the modern kettle drum, though perhaps smaller. [OE. cimbale, simbale, OF. cimbale, F. cymbale, L. cymbalum, fr. Gr. kubha pot. Cf. Chime.]
- giver n.
- One who gives; a donor; a bestower; a grantor; one who imparts or distributes.
- jordan n.
- A pot or vessel with a large neck, formerly used by physicians and alchemists. Halliwell. [Prob. fr. the river Jordan, and shortened fr. Jordan bottle a bottle of water from the Jordan, brought back by pilgrims.]
- stayed a.
- Staid; fixed; settled; sober; -- now written staid. See Staid.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the Rev. Stewart Headlam 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 the Rev. Stewart Headlam, in Poems (1895), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66520, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-lionel-poems/to-the-rev-stewart-headlam.html, id L12508.
Form and metre
To the Rev. Stewart Headlam is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is trochaic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 87% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.9 syllables. 14 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in trochaic 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 -A-A organs · fluteA · temple · fruitA
- 2 -A-A egypt · oilA · canaan · spoilA
- 3 -A-A cymbal · harpA · places · sharpA
- 4 -A-A voices · lawA · waters · sawA
- 5 -A-A promise · lordsA · holy · swordsA
- 6 -A-A nations · ashtarothA · jacob · wrathA
- 7 -A-A organs · voiceA · jehovah · choiceA
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 trochaic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Praise ye Him, with virginals and organs: | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| Praise ye Him, with timbrel and flute! | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Come from the field, glorify His temple, | 10 | ····/˘··/˘ |
| With red corn, with the ripe first fruit. | 8 | ········ |
| He is God, who brought us out from Egypt, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Gave us lands of vineyard and oil: | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| He is God, who made the Kings of Canaan, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Made their kingdoms, to be our spoil. | 8 | ··/˘··/· |
| Praise ye Him, with psaltery and cymbal: | 10 | ····/˘˘·/˘ |
| Praise ye Him, with viol and harp! | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Through the Wilderness, through the rough places, | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| Led He us, for whom Death grew sharp. | 8 | ········ |
| Sinai, with thunders and with voices, | 9 | /··/˘··/˘ |
| Praised our God, the Giver of Law: | 8 | ·/··/˘·· |
| Jordan stayed the rushing of his waters; | 10 | /˘··/˘··/˘ |
| Israel passed over, and saw: | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| Saw the plenty, saw the Land of Promise, | 10 | ··/˘····/˘ |
| Saw, and praised Him, the Lord of lords: | 8 | ········ |
| King of armies, terrible and holy; | 9 | ··/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Light to our eyes, and strength to our swords. | 9 | ··/····/· |
| Where be now the gods of all the nations? | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Where is Baal? Where Ashtaroth? | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Fallen! fallen! before the God of Jacob: | 11 | /˘/˘·····/˘ |
| None withstood the day of His wrath. | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| Praise ye Him, with virginals and organs: | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| Praise ye Him, with music and voice! | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Praise the Name of the Lord God Jehovah: | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| Praise Him, praise Him, ye Tribes His choice! | 8 | ········ |
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