Poem II
Though better men may fear that trumpet's warning,I meet you, lady, on the Judgment morning,With golden hope my spirit still adorning.
Our God who made you all so fair and sweetIs three times gentle, and before his feetRejoicing I shall say:--"The girl you gaveWas my first Heaven, an angel bent to save.Is worth this rescue from the Second Death,Perhaps her dear proud eyes grow gentler tooThat scorned my graceless years and trophies few.Gone are those years, and gone ill-deeds that turnedHer sacred beauty from my songs that burned.We now as comrades through the stars may takeThe rich and arduous quests I did forsake.Grant me a seraph-guide to thread the throngAnd quickly find that woman-soul so strong.I dream that in her deeply-hidden heartHurt love lived on, though we were far apart,A brooding secret mercy like your ownThat blooms to-day to vindicate your throne.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- graceless a.
- Wanting in grace or excellence; departed from, or deprived of, divine grace; hence, depraved; corrupt.
- arduous a.
- Steep and lofty, in a literal sense; hard to climb. [L. arduus steep, high; akin to Ir. ard high, height.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poem II is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Congo, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #1021; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Vachel Lindsay, Poem II, in The Congo and Other Poems (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1021, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lindsay-congo/poem-ii.html, id L00962.
Form and metre
Poem II is 20 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 70% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 3 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 heroic couplets, 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 AAA warningA · morningA · adorningA
- 2 AABB-CCDDEEFFGGHH sweetA · feetA · gaveB · saveB · death · tooC · fewC · turnedD · burnedD · takeE · forsakeE · throngF · strongF · heartG · apartG · ownH · throneH
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Though better men may fear that trumpet's warning, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/˘ |
| I meet you, lady, on the Judgment morning, | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| With golden hope my spirit still adorning. | 10 | ·/˘··/·˘/˘ |
| Our God who made you all so fair and sweet | 10 | /········· |
| Is three times gentle, and before his feet | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Rejoicing I shall say:--"The girl you gave | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| Was my first Heaven, an angel bent to save. | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| Is worth this rescue from the Second Death, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Perhaps her dear proud eyes grow gentler too | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| That scorned my graceless years and trophies few. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Gone are those years, and gone ill-deeds that turned | 10 | ·········· |
| Her sacred beauty from my songs that burned. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| We now as comrades through the stars may take | 10 | ···/······ |
| The rich and arduous quests I did forsake. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Grant me a seraph-guide to thread the throng | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And quickly find that woman-soul so strong. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| I dream that in her deeply-hidden heart | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Hurt love lived on, though we were far apart, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| A brooding secret mercy like your own | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| That blooms to-day to vindicate your throne. | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
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.