In the Cornfields
PHILIP.Onward through leagues of sun-illumined corn,As if through parted seas, the pathway runs,And crowned with sunshine as the Prince of PeaceWalks the beloved Master, leading us,As Moses led our fathers in old timesOut of the land of bondage! We have foundHim of whom Moses and the Prophets wrote,Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph.
NATHANAEL.Can any good come out of Nazareth?Can this be the Messiah?
PHILIP.Come and see.
NATHANAEL.The summer sun grows hot: I am anhungered.How cheerily the Sabbath-breaking quailPipes in the corn, and bids us to his FeastOf Wheat Sheaves! How the bearded, ripening earsToss in the roofless temple of the air;As if the unseen hand of some High-PriestWaved them before Mount Tabor as an altar!It were no harm, if we should pluck and eat.
PHILIP.How wonderful it is to walk abroadWith the Good Master! Since the miracleHe wrought at Cana, at the marriage feast,His fame hath gone abroad through all the land,And when we come to Nazareth, thou shalt seeHow his own people will receive their Prophet,And hail him as Messiah! See, he turnsAnd looks at thee.
CHRISTUS.Behold an IsraeliteIn whom there is no guile.
NATHANAEL.Whence knowest thou me?
CHRISTUS.Before that Philip called thee, when thou wastUnder the fig-tree, I beheld thee.
NATHANAEL.Rabbi!Thou art the Son of God, thou art the KingOf Israel!
CHRISTUS.Because I said I saw theeUnder the fig-tree, before Philip called thee,Believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things.Hereafter thou shalt see the heavens unclosed,The angels of God ascending and descendingUpon the Son of Man!
PHAIRISEES, passing.Hail, Rabbi!
CHRISTUS.Hail!
PHARISEES.Behold how thy disciples do a thingWhich is not lawful on the Sabbath-day,And thou forbiddest them not!
CHRISTUS.Have ye not readWhat David did when he anhungered was,And all they that were with him? How he enteredInto the house of God, and ate the shew-bread,Which was not lawful, saving for the priests?Have ye not read, how on the Sabbath-daysThe priests profane the Sabbath in the Temple,And yet are blameless? But I say to you,One in this place is greater than the Temple!And had ye known the meaning of the words,I will have mercy and not sacrifice,The guiltless ye would not condemn. The SabbathWas made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
PHARISEES.This is, alas! some poor demoniacWandering about the fields, and utteringHis unintelligible blasphemiesAmong the common people, who receiveAs prophecies the words they comprehend not!Deluded folk! The incomprehensibleAlone excites their wonder. There is noneSo visionary, or so void of sense,But he will find a crowd to follow him!
Words in this poem 15
- pathway n.
- A footpath; a beaten track; any path or course. Also used figuratively.
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- wrote v. i.
- To root with the snout. See 1st Root. [OE. wroten. See 1st Root.]
- anhungered a.
- Ahungered; longing.
- cheerily adv.
- In a cheery manner.
- roofless a.
- Having no roof; as, a roofless house.
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- israelite n.
- A descendant of Israel, or Jacob; a Hebrew; a Jew. [L. Israëlites, Gr. Yisra, i. e., champion of God; sarah to fight + God.]
- wast
- The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style.
- rabbi n.
- Master; lord; teacher; -- a Jewish title of respect or honor for a teacher or doctor of the law.
- hereafter adv.
- In time to come; in some future time or state. [AS. hræfter.]
- unclosed a.
- Not separated by inclosures; open. Clarendon. [Pref. un- not + closed.]
- guiltless a.
- Free from guilt; innocent.
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In the Cornfields 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 Cornfields, in Christus: A Mystery (1872), Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-christus/in-the-cornfields.html.
Form and metre
In the Cornfields is 83 lines in 15 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.
- 4 A-AB--B-- nathanaelA · anhungered · quailA · feastB · ears · air · priestB · altar · eat
- 5 -----A--A philip · abroad · miracle · feast · land · seeA · prophet · turns · theeA
- 9 A--A nathanaelA · rabbi · king · israelA
- 10 -AA---- christus · theeA · theeA · things · unclosed · descending · man
- 14 -A-AA--B-B--CC christus · readA · was · enteredA · breadA · priests · days · templeB · you · templeB · words · sacrifice · sabbathC · sabbathC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| PHILIP. | 2 | /˘ |
| Onward through leagues of sun-illumined corn, | 10 | /˘····˘/˘· |
| As if through parted seas, the pathway runs, | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| And crowned with sunshine as the Prince of Peace | 10 | ···/······ |
| Walks the beloved Master, leading us, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| As Moses led our fathers in old times | 10 | ·/˘·//˘··· |
| Out of the land of bondage! We have found | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Him of whom Moses and the Prophets wrote, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph. | 11 | /˘·/˘˘···/˘ |
| NATHANAEL. | 3 | /˘· |
| Can any good come out of Nazareth? | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| Can this be the Messiah? | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| PHILIP. | 2 | /˘ |
| Come and see. | 3 | ··· |
| NATHANAEL. | 3 | /˘· |
| The summer sun grows hot: I am anhungered. | 11 | ·/˘·····˘/˘ |
| How cheerily the Sabbath-breaking quail | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘/˘· |
| Pipes in the corn, and bids us to his Feast | 10 | ·········· |
| Of Wheat Sheaves! How the bearded, ripening ears | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Toss in the roofless temple of the air; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| As if the unseen hand of some High-Priest | 10 | ···˘/····· |
| Waved them before Mount Tabor as an altar! | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| It were no harm, if we should pluck and eat. | 10 | ·········· |
| PHILIP. | 2 | /˘ |
| How wonderful it is to walk abroad | 10 | ·/˘˘····˘/ |
| With the Good Master! Since the miracle | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| He wrought at Cana, at the marriage feast, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| His fame hath gone abroad through all the land, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| And when we come to Nazareth, thou shalt see | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| How his own people will receive their Prophet, | 11 | ···/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| And hail him as Messiah! See, he turns | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| And looks at thee. | 4 | ···· |
| CHRISTUS. | 2 | ·· |
| Behold an Israelite | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| In whom there is no guile. | 6 | ······ |
| NATHANAEL. | 3 | /˘· |
| Whence knowest thou me? | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| CHRISTUS. | 2 | ·· |
| Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Under the fig-tree, I beheld thee. | 9 | ······˘/· |
| NATHANAEL. | 3 | /˘· |
| Rabbi! | 2 | /· |
| Thou art the Son of God, thou art the King | 10 | ·········· |
| Of Israel! | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| CHRISTUS. | 2 | ·· |
| Because I said I saw thee | 7 | ······· |
| Under the fig-tree, before Philip called thee, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things. | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| Hereafter thou shalt see the heavens unclosed, | 11 | ˘/˘····/˘˘/ |
| The angels of God ascending and descending | 12 | ·/˘··˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Upon the Son of Man! | 6 | ······ |
| PHAIRISEES, passing. | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Hail, Rabbi! | 3 | ·/· |
| CHRISTUS. | 2 | ·· |
| Hail! | 1 | · |
| PHARISEES. | 2 | ·· |
| Behold how thy disciples do a thing | 10 | ˘/··˘/˘··· |
| Which is not lawful on the Sabbath-day, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And thou forbiddest them not! | 7 | ··˘/˘·· |
| CHRISTUS. | 2 | ·· |
| Have ye not read | 4 | ···· |
| What David did when he anhungered was, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| And all they that were with him? How he entered | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Into the house of God, and ate the shew-bread, | 11 | ··········· |
| Which was not lawful, saving for the priests? | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Have ye not read, how on the Sabbath-days | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The priests profane the Sabbath in the Temple, | 11 | ··˘/·/˘··/˘ |
| And yet are blameless? But I say to you, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| One in this place is greater than the Temple! | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| And had ye known the meaning of the words, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I will have mercy and not sacrifice, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The guiltless ye would not condemn. The Sabbath | 11 | ·/˘···˘/·/˘ |
| Was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| PHARISEES. | 2 | ·· |
| This is, alas! some poor demoniac | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘˘ |
| Wandering about the fields, and uttering | 11 | /˘˘·····/˘˘ |
| His unintelligible blasphemies | 10 | ··˘/˘˘˘/˘˘ |
| Among the common people, who receive | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| As prophecies the words they comprehend not! | 10 | ·/˘····˘/· |
| Deluded folk! The incomprehensible | 11 | ˘/˘··˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Alone excites their wonder. There is none | 10 | ˘/˘/·/˘··· |
| So visionary, or so void of sense, | 10 | ·/˘·˘····· |
| But he will find a crowd to follow him! | 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.