Vox Clamantis
Repent! repent! repent!For the kingdom of God is at hand,And all the landFull of the knowledge of the Lord shall beAs the waters cover the sea,And encircle the continent!
Repent! repent! repent!For lo, the hour appointed,The hour so long foretoldBy the Prophets of old,Of the coming of the Anointed,The Messiah, the Paraclete,The Desire of the Nations, is nigh!He shall not strive nor cry,Nor his voice be heard in the street;Nor the bruised reed shall He break,Nor quench the smoking flax;And many of them that sleepIn the dust of earth shall awake,On that great and terrible day,And the wicked shall wail and weep,And be blown like a smoke away,And be melted away like wax.Repent! repent! repent!
O Priest, and Pharisee,Who hath warned you to fleeFrom the wrath that is to be?From the coming anguish and ire?The axe is laid at the rootOf the trees, and every treeThat bringeth not forth good fruitIs hewn down and cast into the fire!
Ye Scribes, why come ye hither?In the hour that is uncertain,In the day of anguish and trouble,He that stretcheth the heavens as a curtainAnd spreadeth them out as a tent,Shall blow upon you, and ye shall wither,And the whirlwind shall take you away as stubble!Repent! repent! repent!
PRIEST.Who art thou, O man of prayer!In raiment of camel's hair,Begirt with leathern thong,That here in the wilderness,With a cry as of one in distress,Preachest unto this throng?Art thou the Christ?
JOHN.Priest of Jerusalem,In meekness and humbleness,I deny not, I confessI am not the Christ!
PRIEST.What shall we say unto themThat sent us here? RevealThy name, and naught conceal!Art thou Elias?
JOHN.No!
PRIEST.Art thou that Prophet, then,Of lamentation and woe,Who, as a symbol and signOf impending wrath divineUpon unbelieving men,Shattered the vessel of clayIn the Valley of Slaughter?
JOHN.Nay.I am not he thou namest!
PRIEST.Who art thou, and what is the wordThat here thou proclaimest?
JOHN.I am the voice of oneCrying in the wilderness alone:Prepare ye the way of the Lord;Make his paths straightIn the land that is desolate!
PRIEST.If thou be not the Christ,Nor yet Elias, nor heThat, in sign of the things to be,Shattered the vessel of clayIn the Valley of Slaughter,Then declare unto us, and sayBy what authority nowBaptizest thou?
JOHN.I indeed baptize you with waterUnto repentance; but He,That cometh after me,Is mightier than I and higher;The latchet of whose shoesI an not worthy to unloose;He shall baptize you with fire,And with the Holy Ghost!Whose fan is in his hand;He will purge to the uttermostHis floor, and garner his wheat,But will burn the chaff in the brandAnd fire of unquenchable heat!Repent! repent! repent!
Words in this poem 15
- repent a.
- Prostrate and rooting; -- said of stems. Gray. [L. repens, -entis, creeping, p. pr. of repere to creep.]
- 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,]
- continent a.
- Serving to restrain or limit; restraining; opposing. [L. continens, -entis, prop., p. pr. of continere to hold together, to repress: cf. F. continent. See Contain.]
- paraclete n.
- An advocate; one called to aid or support; hence, the Consoler, Comforter, or Intercessor; -- a term applied to the Holy Spirit.
- begirt v. t.
- To encompass; to begird.
- leathern a.
- Made of leather; consisting of. leather; as, a leathern purse.
- meekness n.
- The quality or state of being meek.
- humbleness n.
- The quality of being humble; humility; meekness.
- unbelieving a.
- Not believing; incredulous; doubting; distrusting; skeptical.
- baptize v. t.
- To administer the sacrament of baptism to. [F. baptiser, L. baptizare, fr.Gr. . See Baptism.]
- latchet n.
- The string that fastens a shoe; a shoestring. [OE. lachet, from an OF. dialect form of F. lacet plaited string, lace dim. of lacs. See Lace.]
- unloose v. t.
- To make loose; to loosen; to set free. [1st pref. un- (intensive) + loose.]
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- uttermost a.
- Extreme; utmost; being; in the farthest, greatest, or highest degree; as, the uttermost extent or end. [From Utter, a.; cf. Utmost, and Outermost.]
- garner n.
- A granary; a building or place where grain is stored for preservation. [OE. garner, gerner, greiner, OF. gernier, grenier, F. grenier, fr. L. granarium, fr. granum. See 1st Grain, and cf. Granary.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Vox Clamantis 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, Vox Clamantis, in Christus: A Mystery (1872), Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-christus/vox-clamantis.html.
Form and metre
Vox Clamantis is 104 lines in 14 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 -AABB- repent · handA · landA · beB · seaB · continent
- 2 ABCCBDEEDFGHFIHIGA repentA · appointedB · foretoldC · oldC · anointedB · paracleteD · nighE · cryE · streetD · breakF · flaxG · sleepH · awakeF · dayI · weepH · awayI · waxG · repentA
- 3 AAABCACB phariseeA · fleeA · beA · ireB · rootC · treeA · fruitC · fireB
- 4 ABCBDACD hitherA · uncertainB · troubleC · curtainB · tentD · witherA · stubbleC · repentD
- 5 -AABCCB- priest · prayerA · hairA · thongB · wildernessC · distressC · throngB · christ
- 6 --AA- john · jerusalem · humblenessA · confessA · christ
- 7 --AA- priest · them · revealA · concealA · elias
- 9 -A-BBA-- priest · thenA · woe · signB · divineB · menA · clay · slaughter
- 11 A-A priestA · word · proclaimestA
- 12 ----AA john · one · alone · lord · straightA · desolateA
- 13 --AAB-BCC priest · christ · heA · beA · clayB · slaughter · sayB · nowC · thouC
- 14 --AAB--BCDCEDE- john · water · heA · meA · higherB · shoes · unloose · fireB · ghostC · handD · uttermostC · wheatE · brandD · heatE · repent
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Repent! repent! repent! | 6 | ˘/˘/˘/ |
| For the kingdom of God is at hand, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| And all the land | 4 | ···· |
| Full of the knowledge of the Lord shall be | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| As the waters cover the sea, | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| And encircle the continent! | 8 | ·˘/˘·/˘˘ |
| Repent! repent! repent! | 6 | ˘/˘/˘/ |
| For lo, the hour appointed, | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| The hour so long foretold | 7 | ·/˘··˘/ |
| By the Prophets of old, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Of the coming of the Anointed, | 9 | ··/˘··˘/˘ |
| The Messiah, the Paraclete, | 8 | ·˘/˘·/˘˘ |
| The Desire of the Nations, is nigh! | 10 | ·˘/˘··/˘·· |
| He shall not strive nor cry, | 6 | ······ |
| Nor his voice be heard in the street; | 8 | ········ |
| Nor the bruised reed shall He break, | 7 | ······· |
| Nor quench the smoking flax; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And many of them that sleep | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| In the dust of earth shall awake, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| On that great and terrible day, | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| And the wicked shall wail and weep, | 9 | ··/˘˘···· |
| And be blown like a smoke away, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And be melted away like wax. | 8 | ··/˘˘/·· |
| Repent! repent! repent! | 6 | ˘/˘/˘/ |
| O Priest, and Pharisee, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Who hath warned you to flee | 6 | ······ |
| From the wrath that is to be? | 7 | ······· |
| From the coming anguish and ire? | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| The axe is laid at the root | 7 | ······· |
| Of the trees, and every tree | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| That bringeth not forth good fruit | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Is hewn down and cast into the fire! | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Ye Scribes, why come ye hither? | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| In the hour that is uncertain, | 9 | ··/˘··˘/˘ |
| In the day of anguish and trouble, | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| He that stretcheth the heavens as a curtain | 11 | ··/˘·/˘··/˘ |
| And spreadeth them out as a tent, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Shall blow upon you, and ye shall wither, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| And the whirlwind shall take you away as stubble! | 12 | ··/····˘/·/˘ |
| Repent! repent! repent! | 6 | ˘/˘/˘/ |
| PRIEST. | 1 | · |
| Who art thou, O man of prayer! | 7 | ······· |
| In raiment of camel's hair, | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| Begirt with leathern thong, | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| That here in the wilderness, | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| With a cry as of one in distress, | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Preachest unto this throng? | 6 | /˘···· |
| Art thou the Christ? | 4 | ···· |
| JOHN. | 1 | · |
| Priest of Jerusalem, | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| In meekness and humbleness, | 7 | ·/˘·/˘˘ |
| I deny not, I confess | 7 | ·˘/··˘/ |
| I am not the Christ! | 5 | ····· |
| PRIEST. | 1 | · |
| What shall we say unto them | 7 | ······· |
| That sent us here? Reveal | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Thy name, and naught conceal! | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Art thou Elias? | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| JOHN. | 1 | · |
| No! | 1 | · |
| PRIEST. | 1 | · |
| Art thou that Prophet, then, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Of lamentation and woe, | 7 | ······· |
| Who, as a symbol and sign | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Of impending wrath divine | 7 | ·˘/˘·˘/ |
| Upon unbelieving men, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Shattered the vessel of clay | 7 | /˘·/˘·· |
| In the Valley of Slaughter? | 7 | ··/˘·/˘ |
| JOHN. | 1 | · |
| Nay. | 1 | · |
| I am not he thou namest! | 7 | ······· |
| PRIEST. | 1 | · |
| Who art thou, and what is the word | 8 | ········ |
| That here thou proclaimest? | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| JOHN. | 1 | · |
| I am the voice of one | 6 | ······ |
| Crying in the wilderness alone: | 9 | /˘··/˘˘˘/ |
| Prepare ye the way of the Lord; | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Make his paths straight | 4 | ···· |
| In the land that is desolate! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| PRIEST. | 1 | · |
| If thou be not the Christ, | 6 | ······ |
| Nor yet Elias, nor he | 7 | ··˘/˘·· |
| That, in sign of the things to be, | 8 | ········ |
| Shattered the vessel of clay | 7 | /˘·/˘·· |
| In the Valley of Slaughter, | 7 | ··/˘·/˘ |
| Then declare unto us, and say | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| By what authority now | 7 | ··˘/˘˘· |
| Baptizest thou? | 4 | ˘/˘· |
| JOHN. | 1 | · |
| I indeed baptize you with water | 9 | ·˘/˘/··/˘ |
| Unto repentance; but He, | 7 | ··˘/˘·· |
| That cometh after me, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Is mightier than I and higher; | 9 | ·/˘˘···/˘ |
| The latchet of whose shoes | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I an not worthy to unloose; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| He shall baptize you with fire, | 8 | ··˘/··/˘ |
| And with the Holy Ghost! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Whose fan is in his hand; | 6 | ······ |
| He will purge to the uttermost | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| His floor, and garner his wheat, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| But will burn the chaff in the brand | 8 | ········ |
| And fire of unquenchable heat! | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Repent! repent! repent! | 6 | ˘/˘/˘/ |
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