Citizen of the World
No longer of Him be it said"He hath no place to lay His head."
In every land a constant lampFlames by His small and mighty camp.
There is no strange and distant placeThat is not gladdened by His face.
And every nation kneels to hailThe Splendour shining through Its veil.
Cloistered beside the shouting street,Silent, He calls me to His feet.
Imprisoned for His love of meHe makes my spirit greatly free.
And through my lips that uttered sinThe King of Glory enters in.
An iron hand has stilled the throatsThat throbbed with loud and rhythmic gleeAnd dammed the flood of silver notesThat drenched the world in melody.The blosmy apple boughs are yearningFor their wild choristers' returning,But no swift wings flash through the tree.
Ye that were glad and fleet and strong,Shall Silence take you in her net?And shall Death quell that radiant songWhose echo thrills the meadow yet?Burst the frail web about you clingingAnd charm Death's cruel heart with singingTill with strange tears his eyes are wet.
The scented morning of the yearIs old and stale now ye are gone.No friendly songs the children hearAmong the bushes on the lawn.When babies wander out a-MayingWill ye, their bards, afar be straying?Unhymned by you, what is the dawn?
Nay, since ye loved ye cannot die.Above the stars is set your nest.Through Heaven's fields ye sing and flyAnd in the trees of Heaven rest.And little children in their dreamingShall see your soft black plumage gleamingAnd smile, by your clear music blest.
Words in this poem
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- cloistered a.
- Dwelling in cloisters; solitary.
- rhythmic a.
- Pertaining to, or of the nature of, rhythm DAy and night I worked my rhythmic thought. Mrs. Browning. [Gr. rhythmicus, F. rhythmique.]
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
- 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,]
- quell v. t.
- To take the life of; to kill. [OE. quellen to kill, AS. cwellan, causative of cwelan to die; akin to OHG. quellen to torment, Icel. kvelja. See Quail to cower.]
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Citizen of the World is in the public domain. This text is taken from Trees, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #263; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Joyce Kilmer, Citizen of the World, in Trees and Other Poems (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #263, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kilmer-trees/citizen-of-the-world.html, id L12909.
Form and metre
Citizen of the World is 42 lines in 11 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 52% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 45% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AA saidA · headA
- 2 AA lampA · campA
- 3 AA placeA · faceA
- 4 AA hailA · veilA
- 5 AA streetA · feetA
- 6 AA meA · freeA
- 7 AA sinA · inA
- 8 ABA-CCB throatsA · gleeB · notesA · melody · yearningC · returningC · treeB
- 9 ABABCCB strongA · netB · songA · yetB · clingingC · singingC · wetB
- 10 ABABCCB yearA · goneB · hearA · lawnB · mayingC · strayingC · dawnB
- 11 ABABCCB dieA · nestB · flyA · restB · dreamingC · gleamingC · blestB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| No longer of Him be it said | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "He hath no place to lay His head." | 8 | ········ |
| In every land a constant lamp | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Flames by His small and mighty camp. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| There is no strange and distant place | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That is not gladdened by His face. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And every nation kneels to hail | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The Splendour shining through Its veil. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Cloistered beside the shouting street, | 8 | /˘˘/·/˘· |
| Silent, He calls me to His feet. | 8 | /˘······ |
| Imprisoned for His love of me | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| He makes my spirit greatly free. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And through my lips that uttered sin | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The King of Glory enters in. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| An iron hand has stilled the throats | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That throbbed with loud and rhythmic glee | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And dammed the flood of silver notes | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That drenched the world in melody. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| The blosmy apple boughs are yearning | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| For their wild choristers' returning, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| But no swift wings flash through the tree. | 8 | ········ |
| Ye that were glad and fleet and strong, | 8 | ········ |
| Shall Silence take you in her net? | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And shall Death quell that radiant song | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Whose echo thrills the meadow yet? | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| Burst the frail web about you clinging | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And charm Death's cruel heart with singing | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Till with strange tears his eyes are wet. | 8 | ········ |
| The scented morning of the year | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Is old and stale now ye are gone. | 8 | ········ |
| No friendly songs the children hear | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Among the bushes on the lawn. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| When babies wander out a-Maying | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Will ye, their bards, afar be straying? | 9 | ····˘/·/˘ |
| Unhymned by you, what is the dawn? | 8 | ········ |
| Nay, since ye loved ye cannot die. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Above the stars is set your nest. | 8 | ········ |
| Through Heaven's fields ye sing and fly | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And in the trees of Heaven rest. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And little children in their dreaming | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Shall see your soft black plumage gleaming | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| And smile, by your clear music blest. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
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.