The Hope of the Resurrection
Though I have watched so many mourners weepO'er the real dead, in dull earth laid asleep--Those dead seemed but the shadows of my daysThat passed and left me in the sun's bright rays.Now though you go on smiling in the sunOur love is slain, and love and you were one.You are the first, you I have known so long,Whose death was deadly, a tremendous wrong.Therefore I seek the faith that sets it rightAmid the lilies and the candle-light.I think on Heaven, for in that air so clearWe two may meet, confused and parted here.Ah, when man's dearest dies, 'tis then he goesTo that old balm that heals the centuries' woes.Then Christ's wild cry in all the streets is rife:--"I am the Resurrection and the Life."
Words in this poem
- tremendous a.
- Fitted to excite fear or terror; such as may astonish or terrify by its magnitude, force, or violence; terrible; dreadful; as, a tremendous wind; a tremendous shower; a tremendous shock or fall. [L. tremendus that is to be trembled at, fearful, fr. tremere to tremble. See Tremble.]
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- rife a.
- Prevailing; prevalent; abounding. [AS. rif abundant, or Icel. rifr munificent; akin to OD. riff, rijve, abundant.]
- resurrection n.
- A rising again; the resumption of vigor. [F. résurrection, L. resurrectio, fr. resurgere, resurrectum, to rise again; pref. re- re- + surgere to rise. See Source.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Hope of the Resurrection 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, The Hope of the Resurrection, in The Congo and Other Poems (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1021, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lindsay-congo/the-hope-of-the-resurrection.html, id L00961.
Form and metre
The Hope of the Resurrection is 16 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 38% 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH weepA · asleepA · daysB · raysB · sunC · oneC · longD · wrongD · rightE · lightE · clearF · hereF · goesG · woesG · rifeH · lifeH
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 I have watched so many mourners weep | 9 | ·····//˘· |
| O'er the real dead, in dull earth laid asleep-- | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Those dead seemed but the shadows of my days | 10 | ·····/···· |
| That passed and left me in the sun's bright rays. | 10 | ·········· |
| Now though you go on smiling in the sun | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Our love is slain, and love and you were one. | 10 | /········· |
| You are the first, you I have known so long, | 10 | ·········· |
| Whose death was deadly, a tremendous wrong. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Therefore I seek the faith that sets it right | 10 | ·········· |
| Amid the lilies and the candle-light. | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| I think on Heaven, for in that air so clear | 10 | ···/······ |
| We two may meet, confused and parted here. | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Ah, when man's dearest dies, 'tis then he goes | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To that old balm that heals the centuries' woes. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Then Christ's wild cry in all the streets is rife:-- | 10 | ·········· |
| "I am the Resurrection and the Life." | 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.