Born Blind
A JEW.Who is this beggar blinking in the sun?Is it not he who used to sit and begBy the Gate Beautiful?
ANOTHER.It is the same.
A THIRD.It is not he, but like him, for that beggarWas blind from birth. It cannot be the same.
THE BEGGAR.Yea, I am he.
A JEW.How have thine eyes been opened?
THE BEGGAR.A man that is called Jesus made a clayAnd put it on mine eyes, and said to me:Go to Siloam's Pool and wash thyself.I went and washed, and I received my sight.
A JEW.Where is he?
THE BEGGAR.I know not.
PHARISEES.What is this crowdGathered about a beggar? What has happened?
A JEW.Here is a man who hath been blind from birth,And now he sees. He says a man called JesusHath healed him.
PHARISEES.As God liveth, the Nazarene!How was this done?
THE BEGGAR.Rabboni, he put clayUpon mine eyes; I washed, and now I see.
PHARISEES.When did he this?
THE BEGGAR.Rabboni, yesterday.
PHARISEES.The Sabbath day. This man is not of God,Because he keepeth not the Sabbath day!
A JEW.How can a man that is a sinner doSuch miracles?
PHARISEES.What dost thou say of himThat hath restored thy sight?
THE BEGGAR.He is a Prophet.
A JEW.This is a wonderful story, but not true,A beggar's fiction. He was not born blind,And never has been blind!
OTHERS.Here are his parents.Ask them.
PHARISEES.Is this your son?
THE PARENTS.Rabboni, yea;We know this is our son.
PHARISEES.Was he born blind?
THE PARENTS.He was born blind.
PHARISEES.Then how doth he now see?
THE PARENTS, aside.What answer shall we make? If we confessIt was the Christ, we shall be driven forthOut of the Synagogue!We know, Rabboni,This is our son, and that he was born blind;But by what means he seeth, we know not,Or who his eyes hath opened, we know not.He is of age; ask him; we cannot say;He shall speak for himself.
PHARISEES.Give God the praise!We know the man that healed thee is a sinner!
THE BEGGAR.Whether He be a sinner, I know not;One thing I know; that whereas I was blind,I now do see.
PHARISEES.How opened he thine eyes?What did he do?
THE BEGGAR.I have already told you.Ye did not hear: why would ye hear again?Will ye be his disciples?
PHARISEES.God of Moses!Are we demoniacs, are we halt or blind,Or palsy-stricken, or lepers, or the like,That we should join the Synagogue of Satan,And follow jugglers? Thou art his disciple,But we are disciples of Moses; and we knowThat God spake unto Moses; but this fellow,We know not whence he is!
THE BEGGAR.Why, herein isA marvellous thing! Ye know not whence he is,Yet he hath opened mine eyes! We know that GodHeareth not sinners; but if any manDoeth God's will, and is his worshipper,Him doth he hear. Oh, since the world beganIt was not heard that any man hath openedThe eyes of one that was born blind. If HeWere not of God, surely he could do nothing!
PHARISEES.Thou, who wast altogether born in sinsAnd in iniquities, dost thou teach us?Away with thee out of the holy places,Thou reprobate, thou beggar, thou blasphemer!
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- nazarene n.
- A native or inhabitant of Nazareth; -- a term of contempt applied to Christ and the early Christians.
- sinner n.
- One who has sinned; especially, one who has sinned without repenting; hence, a persistent and incorrigible transgressor; one condemned by the law of God.
- 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,]
- synagogue n.
- A congregation or assembly of Jews met for the purpose of worship, or the performance of religious rites. [F., from L. synagoga, Gr. Syn-, and Agent.]
- whereas adv.
- At which place; where.
- wast
- The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style.
- altogether adv.
- All together; conjointly. [OE. altogedere; al all + togedere together. See Together.]
- reprobate a.
- Not enduring proof or trial; not of standard purity or fineness; disallowed; rejected. [L. reprobatus, p. p. of reprobare to disapprove, condemn. See Reprieve, Reprove.]
- blasphemer n.
- One who blasphemes.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Born Blind is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Born Blind, in Christus: A Mystery (1872), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-christus/born-blind.html, id L19177.
Form and metre
Born Blind is 116 lines in 33 stanzas.
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.
- 16 AA- jewA · doA · miracles
- 19 AABB jewA · trueA · blindB · blindB
- 26 ------AA-- aside · confess · forth · synagogue · rabboni · blind · notA · notA · say · himself
- 32 -AA-B-B--- beggar · isA · isA · god · manB · worshipper · beganB · opened · he · nothing
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A JEW. | 2 | ·· |
| Who is this beggar blinking in the sun? | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Is it not he who used to sit and beg | 10 | ·········· |
| By the Gate Beautiful? | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| ANOTHER. | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| It is the same. | 4 | ···· |
| A THIRD. | 2 | ·· |
| It is not he, but like him, for that beggar | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Was blind from birth. It cannot be the same. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| THE BEGGAR. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Yea, I am he. | 4 | ···· |
| A JEW. | 2 | ·· |
| How have thine eyes been opened? | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| THE BEGGAR. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| A man that is called Jesus made a clay | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And put it on mine eyes, and said to me: | 10 | ·········· |
| Go to Siloam's Pool and wash thyself. | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| I went and washed, and I received my sight. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| A JEW. | 2 | ·· |
| Where is he? | 3 | ··· |
| THE BEGGAR. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| I know not. | 3 | ··· |
| PHARISEES. | 2 | ·· |
| What is this crowd | 4 | ···· |
| Gathered about a beggar? What has happened? | 11 | /˘···/˘··/˘ |
| A JEW. | 2 | ·· |
| Here is a man who hath been blind from birth, | 10 | ·········· |
| And now he sees. He says a man called Jesus | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Hath healed him. | 3 | ··· |
| PHARISEES. | 2 | ·· |
| As God liveth, the Nazarene! | 8 | ········ |
| How was this done? | 4 | ···· |
| THE BEGGAR. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Rabboni, he put clay | 6 | ······ |
| Upon mine eyes; I washed, and now I see. | 10 | ·········· |
| PHARISEES. | 2 | ·· |
| When did he this? | 4 | ···· |
| THE BEGGAR. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Rabboni, yesterday. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| PHARISEES. | 2 | ·· |
| The Sabbath day. This man is not of God, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Because he keepeth not the Sabbath day! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| A JEW. | 2 | ·· |
| How can a man that is a sinner do | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Such miracles? | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| PHARISEES. | 2 | ·· |
| What dost thou say of him | 6 | ······ |
| That hath restored thy sight? | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| THE BEGGAR. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| He is a Prophet. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| A JEW. | 2 | ·· |
| This is a wonderful story, but not true, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| A beggar's fiction. He was not born blind, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| And never has been blind! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| OTHERS. | 2 | /˘ |
| Here are his parents. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Ask them. | 2 | ·· |
| PHARISEES. | 2 | ·· |
| Is this your son? | 4 | ···· |
| THE PARENTS. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Rabboni, yea; | 4 | ···· |
| We know this is our son. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| PHARISEES. | 2 | ·· |
| Was he born blind? | 4 | ···· |
| THE PARENTS. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| He was born blind. | 4 | ···· |
| PHARISEES. | 2 | ·· |
| Then how doth he now see? | 6 | ······ |
| THE PARENTS, aside. | 5 | ·/˘˘/ |
| What answer shall we make? If we confess | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| It was the Christ, we shall be driven forth | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Out of the Synagogue! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| We know, Rabboni, | 5 | ····· |
| This is our son, and that he was born blind; | 10 | ··/······· |
| But by what means he seeth, we know not, | 9 | ········· |
| Or who his eyes hath opened, we know not. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| He is of age; ask him; we cannot say; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| He shall speak for himself. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| PHARISEES. | 2 | ·· |
| Give God the praise! | 4 | ···· |
| We know the man that healed thee is a sinner! | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| THE BEGGAR. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Whether He be a sinner, I know not; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| One thing I know; that whereas I was blind, | 10 | ·····˘/··· |
| I now do see. | 4 | ···· |
| PHARISEES. | 2 | ·· |
| How opened he thine eyes? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| What did he do? | 4 | ···· |
| THE BEGGAR. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| I have already told you. | 7 | ··˘/˘·· |
| Ye did not hear: why would ye hear again? | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Will ye be his disciples? | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| PHARISEES. | 2 | ·· |
| God of Moses! | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Are we demoniacs, are we halt or blind, | 10 | ·········· |
| Or palsy-stricken, or lepers, or the like, | 11 | ·/˘/˘·/˘··· |
| That we should join the Synagogue of Satan, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| And follow jugglers? Thou art his disciple, | 11 | ·/˘/˘···˘/˘ |
| But we are disciples of Moses; and we know | 12 | ···˘/˘·/˘··· |
| That God spake unto Moses; but this fellow, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| We know not whence he is! | 6 | ······ |
| THE BEGGAR. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Why, herein is | 4 | ·˘/· |
| A marvellous thing! Ye know not whence he is, | 11 | ··········· |
| Yet he hath opened mine eyes! We know that God | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| Heareth not sinners; but if any man | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Doeth God's will, and is his worshipper, | 9 | ········· |
| Him doth he hear. Oh, since the world began | 10 | ········˘/ |
| It was not heard that any man hath opened | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| The eyes of one that was born blind. If He | 10 | ·········· |
| Were not of God, surely he could do nothing! | 11 | ····/˘···/˘ |
| PHARISEES. | 2 | ·· |
| Thou, who wast altogether born in sins | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| And in iniquities, dost thou teach us? | 10 | ··˘/˘˘···· |
| Away with thee out of the holy places, | 11 | ˘/·····/˘/˘ |
| Thou reprobate, thou beggar, thou blasphemer! | 11 | ·/˘˘·/˘·˘/˘ |
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