In the Cathedral
CHANT.Kyrie EleisonChriste Eleison!
ELSIE.I am at home here in my Father's house!These paintings of the Saints upon the wallsHave all familiar and benignant faces.
The portraits of the family of God!Thine own hereafter shall be placed among them.
ELSIE.How very grand it is and wonderful!Never have I beheld a church so splendid!Such columns, and such arches, and such windows,So many tombs and statues in the chapels,And under them so many confessionals.They must be for the rich. I should not likeTo tell my sins in such a church as this.Who built it?
A great master of his craft,Erwin von Steinbach; but not he alone,For many generations labored with him.Children that came to see these Saints in stone,As day by day out of the blocks they rose,Grew old and died, and still the work went on,And on, and on, and is not yet completed.The generation that succeeds our ownPerhaps may finish it. The architectBuilt his great heart into these sculptured stones,And with him toiled his children, and their livesWere builded, with his own, into the walls,As offerings unto God. You see that statueFixing its joyous, but deep-wrinkled eyesUpon the Pillars of the Angels yonder.That is the image of the master, carvedBy the fair hand of his own child, Sabina.
ELSIE.How beautiful is the column that he looks at!
That, too, she sculptured. At the base of itStand the Evangelists; above their headsFour Angels blowing upon marble trumpets,And over them the blessed Christ, surroundedBy his attendant ministers, upholdingThe instruments of his passion.
ELSIE.O my Lord!Would I could leave behind me upon earthSome monument to thy glory, such as this!
A greater monument than this thou leavestIn thine own life, all purity and love!See, too, the Rose, above the western portalResplendent with a thousand gorgeous colors,The perfect flower of Gothic loveliness!
ELSIE.And, in the gallery, the long line of statues,Christ with his twelve Apostles watching us!
But come away; we have not time to look,The crowd already fills the church, and yonderUpon a stage, a herald with a trumpet,Clad like the Angel Gabriel, proclaimsThe Mystery that will now be represented.
Words in this poem
- benignant a.
- Kind; gracious; favorable. [LL. benignans, p. pr. of benignare, from L. benignus. See Benign.]
- hereafter adv.
- In time to come; in some future time or state. [AS. hræfter.]
- 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,]
- craft n.
- Strength; might; secret power. [AS. cr strength, skill, art, cunning; akin to OS., G., Sw., & Dan. kraft strength, D. kracht, Icel. kraptr; perh. originally, a drawing together, stretching, fr]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- trumpets n.
- A plant (Sarracenia flava) with long, hollow leaves.
- gorgeous a.
- Imposing through splendid or various colors; showy; fine; magnificent. [OF. gorgias beautiful, glorious, vain, luxurious; cf. OF. gorgias ruff, neck handkerchief, and F. gorge throat, and se pengorger to assume airs. Cf. Gorge, n.]
- loveliness n.
- The state or quality of being lovely. [From Lovely.]
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In the Cathedral 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, In the Cathedral, in Christus: A Mystery (1872), Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-christus/in-the-cathedral.html.
Form and metre
In the Cathedral is 60 lines in 11 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.
- 1 -AA chant · eleisonA · eleisonA
- 5 -A-A---A--------- craft · aloneA · him · stoneA · rose · on · completed · ownA · architect · stones · lives · walls · statue · eyes · yonder · carved · sabina
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 |
|---|---|---|
| CHANT. | 1 | · |
| Kyrie Eleison | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| Christe Eleison! | 4 | ···· |
| ELSIE. | 2 | /˘ |
| I am at home here in my Father's house! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| These paintings of the Saints upon the walls | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Have all familiar and benignant faces. | 11 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| The portraits of the family of God! | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| Thine own hereafter shall be placed among them. | 11 | ··˘/˘······ |
| ELSIE. | 2 | /˘ |
| How very grand it is and wonderful! | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| Never have I beheld a church so splendid! | 11 | /˘··˘/···/˘ |
| Such columns, and such arches, and such windows, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| So many tombs and statues in the chapels, | 11 | ·/˘··/···/˘ |
| And under them so many confessionals. | 11 | ·····/˘˘/˘˘ |
| They must be for the rich. I should not like | 10 | ·········· |
| To tell my sins in such a church as this. | 10 | ·········· |
| Who built it? | 3 | ··· |
| A great master of his craft, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Erwin von Steinbach; but not he alone, | 10 | /˘·/····˘/ |
| For many generations labored with him. | 10 | ·/·˘/˘/˘·· |
| Children that came to see these Saints in stone, | 10 | /˘········ |
| As day by day out of the blocks they rose, | 10 | ·········· |
| Grew old and died, and still the work went on, | 10 | ·········· |
| And on, and on, and is not yet completed. | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| The generation that succeeds our own | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘//· |
| Perhaps may finish it. The architect | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| Built his great heart into these sculptured stones, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And with him toiled his children, and their lives | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Were builded, with his own, into the walls, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| As offerings unto God. You see that statue | 11 | ·/˘······/· |
| Fixing its joyous, but deep-wrinkled eyes | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Upon the Pillars of the Angels yonder. | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| That is the image of the master, carved | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| By the fair hand of his own child, Sabina. | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| ELSIE. | 2 | /˘ |
| How beautiful is the column that he looks at! | 11 | ·/˘··/˘···· |
| That, too, she sculptured. At the base of it | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Stand the Evangelists; above their heads | 10 | ··˘/˘˘···· |
| Four Angels blowing upon marble trumpets, | 11 | ·/˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| And over them the blessed Christ, surrounded | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| By his attendant ministers, upholding | 11 | ··˘/˘/˘˘˘/˘ |
| The instruments of his passion. | 8 | ·/˘˘··/˘ |
| ELSIE. | 2 | /˘ |
| O my Lord! | 3 | ··· |
| Would I could leave behind me upon earth | 10 | ·········· |
| Some monument to thy glory, such as this! | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| A greater monument than this thou leavest | 11 | ·/˘/˘˘···/˘ |
| In thine own life, all purity and love! | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| See, too, the Rose, above the western portal | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Resplendent with a thousand gorgeous colors, | 11 | ˘/˘··/˘/˘/˘ |
| The perfect flower of Gothic loveliness! | 11 | ·˘//˘·/˘/˘˘ |
| ELSIE. | 2 | /˘ |
| And, in the gallery, the long line of statues, | 11 | ···/˘····/· |
| Christ with his twelve Apostles watching us! | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| But come away; we have not time to look, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| The crowd already fills the church, and yonder | 11 | ··˘/˘····/˘ |
| Upon a stage, a herald with a trumpet, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Clad like the Angel Gabriel, proclaims | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| The Mystery that will now be represented. | 11 | ·/˘·····˘/˘ |
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.