Remonstrance
"Opinion, let me alone: I am not thine.Prim Creed, with categoric point, forbearTo feature me my Lord by rule and line.Thou canst not measure Mistress Nature's hair,Not one sweet inch: nay, if thy sight is sharp,Would'st count the strings upon an angel's harp?Forbear, forbear.
"Oh let me love my Lord more fathom deepThan there is line to sound with: let me loveMy fellow not as men that mandates keep:Yea, all that's lovable, below, above,That let me love by heart, by heart, because(Free from the penal pressure of the laws)I find it fair.
"The tears I weep by day and bitter night,Opinion! for thy sole salt vintage fall.-- As morn by morn I rise with fresh delight,Time through my casement cheerily doth call`Nature is new, 'tis birthday every day,Come feast with me, let no man say me nay,Whate'er befall.'
"So fare I forth to feast: I sit besideSome brother bright: but, ere good-morrow's passed,Burly Opinion wedging in hath cried`Thou shalt not sit by us, to break thy fast,Save to our Rubric thou subscribe and swear --`Religion hath blue eyes and yellow hair:'She's Saxon, all.'
"Then, hard a-hungered for my brother's graceTill well-nigh fain to swear his folly's true,In sad dissent I turn my longing faceTo him that sits on the left: `Brother, -- with you?'-- `Nay, not with me, save thou subscribe and swear`Religion hath black eyes and raven hair:'Nought else is true.'
"Debarred of banquets that my heart could makeWith every man on every day of life,I homeward turn, my fires of pain to slakeIn deep endearments of a worshipped wife.`I love thee well, dear Love,' quoth she, `and yetWould that thy creed with mine completely met,As one, not two.'
"Assassin! Thief! Opinion, 'tis thy work.By Church, by throne, by hearth, by every goodThat's in the Town of Time, I see thee lurk,And e'er some shadow stays where thou hast stood.Thou hand'st sweet Socrates his hemlock sour;Thou sav'st Barabbas in that hideous hour,And stabb'st the good
"Deliverer Christ; thou rack'st the souls of men;Thou tossest girls to lions and boys to flames;Thou hew'st Crusader down by Saracen;Thou buildest closets full of secret shames;Indifferent cruel, thou dost blow the blazeRound Ridley or Servetus; all thy daysSmell scorched; I would
"-- Thou base-born Accident of time and place --Bigot Pretender unto Judgment's throne --Bastard, that claimest with a cunning faceThose rights the true, true Son of Man doth ownBy Love's authority -- thou Rebel coldAt head of civil wars and quarrels old --Thou Knife on a throne --
"I would thou left'st me free, to live with love,And faith, that through the love of love doth findMy Lord's dear presence in the stars above,The clods below, the flesh without, the mindWithin, the bread, the tear, the smile.Opinion, damned Intriguer, gray with guile,Let me alone."
Words in this poem 16
- lovable a.
- Having qualities that excite, or are fitted to excite, love; worthy of love.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- casement n.
- A window sash opening on hinges affixed to the upright side of the frame into which it is fitted. (Poetically) A window. [Shortened fr. encasement. See Incase 1st Case, and cf. Incasement.]
- cheerily adv.
- In a cheery manner.
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- subscribe v. t.
- To write underneath, as one's name; to sign (one's name) to a document. [L. subscribere, subscriptum; sub under + scribere to write: cf. F. souscrire. See Scribe.]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- homeward a.
- Being in the direction of home; as, the homeward way.
- quoth v. t.
- Said; spoke; uttered; -- used only in the first and third persons in the past tenses, and always followed by its nominative, the word or words said being the object; as, quoth I. quoth he. [AS.cweedhan, imp cwæedh, pl. cwædon; akin to OS. queedhan, OHG. quethan, quedan, Icel. kveedha, Goth. qiþan. sq. root22. Cf. Bequeath.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- deliverer n.
- One who delivers or rescues; a preserver.
- crusader n.
- One engaged in a crusade; as, the crusaders of the Middle Ages.
- bigot n.
- A hypocrite; esp., a superstitious hypocrite. [F. bigot a bigot or hypocrite, a name once given to the Normans in France. Of unknown origin; possibly akin to Sp. bigote a whisker; hombre de bigote a man of s]
- rebel a.
- Pertaining to rebels or rebellion; acting in revolt; rebellious; as, rebel troops. [F. rebelle, fr. L. rebellis. See Rebel, v. t.]
- damned a.
- Sentenced to punishment in a future state; condemned; consigned to perdition.
- intriguer n.
- One who intrigues.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Remonstrance is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Sidney Lanier, Project Gutenberg ebook #579; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Sidney Lanier, Remonstrance, in Poems (1884), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #579, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lanier-poems/remonstrance.html, id L07634.
Form and metre
Remonstrance is 70 lines in 10 stanzas of 7 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCCB, in 4 of the 10 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% 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 ABA-CCB thineA · forbearB · lineA · hair · sharpC · harpC · forbearB
- 2 ABABCC- deepA · loveB · keepA · aboveB · becauseC · lawsC · fair
- 3 ABABCCB nightA · fallB · delightA · callB · dayC · nayC · befallB
- 4 ABABCC- besideA · passedB · criedA · fastB · swearC · hairC · all
- 5 ABABCCB graceA · trueB · faceA · youB · swearC · hairC · trueB
- 6 ABABCC- makeA · lifeB · slakeA · wifeB · yetC · metC · two
- 7 ABABCCB workA · goodB · lurkA · stoodB · sourC · hourC · goodB
- 8 -A-ABB- men · flamesA · saracen · shamesA · blazeB · daysB · would
- 9 ABABCCB placeA · throneB · faceA · ownB · coldC · oldC · throneB
- 10 ABABCC- loveA · findB · aboveA · mindB · smileC · guileC · alone
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 |
|---|---|---|
| "Opinion, let me alone: I am not thine. | 11 | ˘/˘··˘/···· |
| Prim Creed, with categoric point, forbear | 10 | ········˘/ |
| To feature me my Lord by rule and line. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Thou canst not measure Mistress Nature's hair, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Not one sweet inch: nay, if thy sight is sharp, | 10 | ·········· |
| Would'st count the strings upon an angel's harp? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Forbear, forbear. | 4 | ˘/˘/ |
| "Oh let me love my Lord more fathom deep | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Than there is line to sound with: let me love | 10 | ·········· |
| My fellow not as men that mandates keep: | 10 | ·/˘····/·· |
| Yea, all that's lovable, below, above, | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| That let me love by heart, by heart, because | 10 | ·········· |
| (Free from the penal pressure of the laws) | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| I find it fair. | 4 | ···· |
| "The tears I weep by day and bitter night, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Opinion! for thy sole salt vintage fall. | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| -- As morn by morn I rise with fresh delight, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Time through my casement cheerily doth call | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| `Nature is new, 'tis birthday every day, | 10 | /˘···/·/˘· |
| Come feast with me, let no man say me nay, | 10 | ·········· |
| Whate'er befall.' | 5 | ˘˘/˘/ |
| "So fare I forth to feast: I sit beside | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Some brother bright: but, ere good-morrow's passed, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Burly Opinion wedging in hath cried | 10 | /˘˘/˘/˘··· |
| `Thou shalt not sit by us, to break thy fast, | 10 | ·········· |
| Save to our Rubric thou subscribe and swear -- | 10 | ··//˘·˘/·· |
| `Religion hath blue eyes and yellow hair:' | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| She's Saxon, all.' | 4 | ·/˘· |
| "Then, hard a-hungered for my brother's grace | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Till well-nigh fain to swear his folly's true, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| In sad dissent I turn my longing face | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| To him that sits on the left: `Brother, -- with you?' | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| -- `Nay, not with me, save thou subscribe and swear | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| `Religion hath black eyes and raven hair:' | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| Nought else is true.' | 4 | ···· |
| "Debarred of banquets that my heart could make | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| With every man on every day of life, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| I homeward turn, my fires of pain to slake | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| In deep endearments of a worshipped wife. | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| `I love thee well, dear Love,' quoth she, `and yet | 10 | ·········· |
| Would that thy creed with mine completely met, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| As one, not two.' | 4 | ···· |
| "Assassin! Thief! Opinion, 'tis thy work. | 10 | ˘/˘·˘/˘··· |
| By Church, by throne, by hearth, by every good | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That's in the Town of Time, I see thee lurk, | 10 | ·········· |
| And e'er some shadow stays where thou hast stood. | 10 | ···/······ |
| Thou hand'st sweet Socrates his hemlock sour; | 11 | ···/˘··/·/˘ |
| Thou sav'st Barabbas in that hideous hour, | 10 | ·······/˘/ |
| And stabb'st the good | 4 | ···· |
| "Deliverer Christ; thou rack'st the souls of men; | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| Thou tossest girls to lions and boys to flames; | 11 | ·/˘··/˘···· |
| Thou hew'st Crusader down by Saracen; | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| Thou buildest closets full of secret shames; | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Indifferent cruel, thou dost blow the blaze | 10 | ˘/˘/˘····· |
| Round Ridley or Servetus; all thy days | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Smell scorched; I would | 4 | ···· |
| "-- Thou base-born Accident of time and place -- | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| Bigot Pretender unto Judgment's throne -- | 10 | /˘˘/˘··/˘· |
| Bastard, that claimest with a cunning face | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Those rights the true, true Son of Man doth own | 10 | ·········· |
| By Love's authority -- thou Rebel cold | 10 | ··˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| At head of civil wars and quarrels old -- | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Thou Knife on a throne -- | 5 | ····· |
| "I would thou left'st me free, to live with love, | 10 | ·········· |
| And faith, that through the love of love doth find | 10 | ·········· |
| My Lord's dear presence in the stars above, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The clods below, the flesh without, the mind | 10 | ·········· |
| Within, the bread, the tear, the smile. | 8 | ········ |
| Opinion, damned Intriguer, gray with guile, | 10 | ˘/˘·˘/˘··· |
| Let me alone." | 4 | ··˘/ |
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