The Young Ruler
CHRISTUS.Two men went up into the temple to pray.The one was a self-righteous Pharisee,The other a Publican. And the PhariseeStood and prayed thus within himself: O God,I thank thee I am not as other men,Extortioners, unjust, adulterers,Or even as this Publican. I fastTwice in the week, and also I give tithesOf all that I possess! The Publican,Standing afar off, would not lift so muchEven as his eyes to heaven, but smote his breast,Saying: God be merciful to me a sinner!I tell you that this man went to his houseMore justified than the other. Every oneThat doth exalt himself shall be abased,And he that humbleth himself shall be exalted!
CHILDREN, among themselves.Let us go nearer! He is telling stories!Let us go listen to them.
AN OLD JEW.Children, children!What are ye doing here? Why do ye crowd us?It was such little vagabonds as youThat followed Elisha, mucking him and crying:Go up, thou bald-head! But the bears--the bearsCame out of the wood, and tare them!
A MOTHER.Speak not thus!We brought them here, that He might lay his handsOn them, and bless them.
CHRISTUS.Suffer little childrenTo come unto me, and forbid them not;Of such is the kingdom of heaven; and their angelsLook always on my Father's face.
A YOUNG RULER, running.Good Master!What good thing shall I do, that I may haveEternal life?
CHRISTUS.Why callest thou me good?There is none good but one, and that is God.If thou wilt enter into life eternal,Keep the commandments.
YOUNG RULER.Which of them?
CHRISTUS.Thou shalt notCommit adultery; thou shalt not kill;Thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false witness;Honor thy father and thy mother; and loveThy neighbor as thyself.
YOUNG RULER.From my youth upAll these things have I kept. What lack I yet?
JOHN.With what divine compassion in his eyesThe Master looks upon this eager youth,As if he loved him!
CHRISTUS.Wouldst thou perfect be,Sell all thou hast, and give it to the poor,And come, take up thy cross, and follow me,And thou shalt have thy treasure in the heavens.
JOHN.Behold, how sorrowful he turns away!
CHRISTUS.Children! how hard it is for them that trustIn riches to enter into the kingdom of God!'T is easier for a camel to go throughA needle's eye, than for the rich to enterThe kingdom of God!
JOHN.Ah, who then can be saved?
CHRISTUS.With men this is indeed impossible,But unto God all things are possible!
PETER.Behold, we have left all, and followed thee.What shall we have therefor?
CHRISTUS.Eternal life.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- 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,]
- abased a.
- Lowered; humbled.
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- therefor adv.
- For that, or this; for it. [There + for. Cf. Therefore.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Young Ruler 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, The Young Ruler, in Christus: A Mystery (1872), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-christus/the-young-ruler.html, id L19175.
Form and metre
The Young Ruler is 83 lines in 18 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------------- christus · pray · phariseeA · phariseeA · god · men · adulterers · fast · tithes · publican · much · breast · sinner · house · one · abased · exalted
- 3 A--A--- jewA · children · us · youA · crying · bears · them
- 12 -A-A- christus · beA · poor · meA · heavens
- 14 --A--A christus · trust · godA · through · enter · godA
- 16 -AA christus · impossibleA · possibleA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| CHRISTUS. | 2 | ·· |
| Two men went up into the temple to pray. | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| The one was a self-righteous Pharisee, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| The other a Publican. And the Pharisee | 12 | ·/˘·/˘˘··/˘˘ |
| Stood and prayed thus within himself: O God, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| I thank thee I am not as other men, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Extortioners, unjust, adulterers, | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Or even as this Publican. I fast | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| Twice in the week, and also I give tithes | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Of all that I possess! The Publican, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘˘ |
| Standing afar off, would not lift so much | 10 | /˘˘/······ |
| Even as his eyes to heaven, but smote his breast, | 10 | /····/···· |
| Saying: God be merciful to me a sinner! | 11 | /˘··/˘···/˘ |
| I tell you that this man went to his house | 10 | ·········· |
| More justified than the other. Every one | 11 | ·/˘···/˘/˘· |
| That doth exalt himself shall be abased, | 10 | ··˘/˘/··˘/ |
| And he that humbleth himself shall be exalted! | 12 | ···/˘˘/··˘/˘ |
| CHILDREN, among themselves. | 6 | /˘··˘/ |
| Let us go nearer! He is telling stories! | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Let us go listen to them. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| AN OLD JEW. | 3 | ··· |
| Children, children! | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| What are ye doing here? Why do ye crowd us? | 10 | ···/······ |
| It was such little vagabonds as you | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| That followed Elisha, mucking him and crying: | 11 | ·/˘/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Go up, thou bald-head! But the bears--the bears | 10 | ·········· |
| Came out of the wood, and tare them! | 8 | ········ |
| A MOTHER. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Speak not thus! | 3 | ··· |
| We brought them here, that He might lay his hands | 10 | ·········· |
| On them, and bless them. | 5 | ····· |
| CHRISTUS. | 2 | ·· |
| Suffer little children | 6 | /˘/˘/˘ |
| To come unto me, and forbid them not; | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Of such is the kingdom of heaven; and their angels | 12 | ····/˘·/··/˘ |
| Look always on my Father's face. | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| A YOUNG RULER, running. | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Good Master! | 3 | ·/˘ |
| What good thing shall I do, that I may have | 10 | ·········· |
| Eternal life? | 4 | ˘/˘· |
| CHRISTUS. | 2 | ·· |
| Why callest thou me good? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| There is none good but one, and that is God. | 10 | ·········· |
| If thou wilt enter into life eternal, | 11 | ···/˘···˘/˘ |
| Keep the commandments. | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| YOUNG RULER. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Which of them? | 3 | ··· |
| CHRISTUS. | 2 | ·· |
| Thou shalt not | 3 | ··· |
| Commit adultery; thou shalt not kill; | 10 | ˘/˘/˘˘···· |
| Thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false witness; | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Honor thy father and thy mother; and love | 11 | /˘·/˘··/˘·· |
| Thy neighbor as thyself. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| YOUNG RULER. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| From my youth up | 4 | ···· |
| All these things have I kept. What lack I yet? | 10 | ·········· |
| JOHN. | 1 | · |
| With what divine compassion in his eyes | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| The Master looks upon this eager youth, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| As if he loved him! | 5 | ····· |
| CHRISTUS. | 2 | ·· |
| Wouldst thou perfect be, | 5 | ··˘/· |
| Sell all thou hast, and give it to the poor, | 10 | ·········· |
| And come, take up thy cross, and follow me, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And thou shalt have thy treasure in the heavens. | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| JOHN. | 1 | · |
| Behold, how sorrowful he turns away! | 10 | ˘/·/˘˘··˘/ |
| CHRISTUS. | 2 | ·· |
| Children! how hard it is for them that trust | 10 | /˘········ |
| In riches to enter into the kingdom of God! | 13 | ·/˘·/˘···/˘·· |
| 'T is easier for a camel to go through | 11 | ··/˘··/˘··· |
| A needle's eye, than for the rich to enter | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| The kingdom of God! | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| JOHN. | 1 | · |
| Ah, who then can be saved? | 6 | ······ |
| CHRISTUS. | 2 | ·· |
| With men this is indeed impossible, | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘˘ |
| But unto God all things are possible! | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| PETER. | 2 | /˘ |
| Behold, we have left all, and followed thee. | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| What shall we have therefor? | 6 | ····˘/ |
| CHRISTUS. | 2 | ·· |
| Eternal life. | 4 | ˘/˘· |
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.