Nazareth
CHRISTUS, reading in the Synagogue.The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me.He hath anointed me to preach good tidingsUnto the poor; to heal the broken-hearted;To comfort those that mourn, and to throw openThe prison doors of captives, and proclaimThe Year Acceptable of the Lord, our God!
Who is this youth? He hath taken the Teacher's seat!Will he instruct the Elders?
Fifty yearsHave I been Priest here in the Synagogue,And never have I seen so young a manSit in the Teacher's seat!
Behold, to-dayThis scripture is fulfilled. One is appointedAnd hath been sent to them that mourn in Zion,To give them beauty for ashes, and the oilOf joy for mourning! They shall build againThe old waste-places; and again raise upThe former desolations, and repairThe cities that are wasted! As a bridegroomDecketh himself with ornaments; as a brideAdorneth herself with jewels, so the LordHath clothed me with the robe of righteousness!
He speaks the Prophet's words; but with an airAs if himself had been foreshadowed in them!
For Zion's sake I will not hold my peace,And for Jerusalem's sake I will not restUntil its righteousness be as a brightness,And its salvation as a lamp that burneth!Thou shalt be called no longer the Forsaken,Nor any more thy land the Desolate.The Lord hath sworn, by his right hand hath sworn,And by his arm of strength: I will no moreGive to thine enemies thy corn as meat;The sons of strangers shall not drink thy wine.Go through, go through the gates! Prepare a wayUnto the people! Gather out the stones!Lift up a standard for the people!
Ah!These are seditious words!
And they shall call themThe holy people; the redeemed of God!And thou, Jerusalem, shalt be called Sought out,A city not forsaken!
Is not thisThe carpenter Joseph's son? Is not his motherCalled Mary? and his brethren and his sistersAre they not with us? Doth he make himselfTo be a Prophet?
No man is a ProphetIn his own country, and among his kin.In his own house no Prophet is accepted.I say to you, in the land of IsraelWere many widows in Elijah's day,When for three years and more the heavens were shut,And a great famine was throughout the land;But unto no one was Elijah sentSave to Sarepta, to a city of Sidon,And to a woman there that was a widow.And many lepers were then in the landOf Israel, in the time of EliseusThe Prophet, and yet none of them was cleansed,Save Naaman the Syrian!
Say no more!Thou comest here into our SynagogueAnd speakest to the Elders and the Priests,As if the very mantle of ElijahHad fallen upon thee! Are thou not ashamed?
We want no Prophets here! Let him be drivenFrom Synagogue and city! Let him goAnd prophesy to the Samaritans!
The world is changed. We Elders are as nothing!We are but yesterdays, that have no partOr portion in to-day! Dry leaves that rustle,That make a little sound, and then are dust!
A carpenter's apprentice! a mechanic,Whom we have seen at work here in the townDay after day; a stripling without learning,Shall he pretend to unfold the Word of GodTo men grown old in study of the Law?
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- instruct a.
- Arranged; furnished; provided. [L. instructus, p. p. of instruere to furnish, provide, construct, instruct; pref. in- in, struere. See Structure.]
- zion n.
- A hill in Jerusalem, which, after the capture of that city by the Israelites, became the royal residence of David and his successors. [Heb. tsiy, originally, a hill.]
- 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,]
- bridegroom n.
- A man newly married, or just about to be married. [OE. bridegome, brudgume, AS. br (akin to OS. br, D. bruidegom, bruigom, OHG. pr, MHG. briutegome, G. bräutigam); AS. br bride + guma man, akin to Goth. guma, Ic]
- righteousness n.
- The quality or state of being righteous; holiness; purity; uprightness; rectitude. [AS. rihtwisnes.]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- famine n.
- General scarcity of food; dearth; a want of provisions; destitution. [F. famine, fr. L. fames hunger; cf. Gr. hani loss, lack, ha to leave.]
- rustle v. i.
- To make a quick succession of small sounds, like the rubbing or moving of silk cloth or dry leaves. [AS. hristlan to rustle; or cf. Sw. rusta to stir, make a riot, or E. rush, v.]
- stripling n.
- A youth in the state of adolescence, or just passing from boyhood to manhood; a lad. [Dim. of strip; as if a small strip from the main stock or steam.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Nazareth 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, Nazareth, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/nazareth.html, id L17861.
Form and metre
Nazareth is 81 lines in 14 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.5 syllables. 28 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 43% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
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 ---A--A synagogue · me · tidings · heartedA · open · proclaim · godA
- 4 --A-A------ day · appointed · zionA · oil · againA · up · repair · bridegroom · bride · lord · righteousness
- 6 A-A--B--B---- peaceA · rest · brightnessA · burneth · forsaken · desolateB · sworn · more · meatB · wine · way · stones · people
- 10 ------A---A--- prophet · kin · accepted · israel · day · shut · landA · sent · sidon · widow · landA · eliseus · cleansed · syrian
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. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| CHRISTUS, reading in the Synagogue. | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. | 10 | ·/········ |
| He hath anointed me to preach good tidings | 11 | ··˘/˘····/˘ |
| Unto the poor; to heal the broken-hearted; | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| To comfort those that mourn, and to throw open | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| The prison doors of captives, and proclaim | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| The Year Acceptable of the Lord, our God! | 10 | ··˘/˘···/· |
| Who is this youth? He hath taken the Teacher's seat! | 12 | ······/˘·/˘· |
| Will he instruct the Elders? | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| Fifty years | 3 | /˘· |
| Have I been Priest here in the Synagogue, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And never have I seen so young a man | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Sit in the Teacher's seat! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Behold, to-day | 4 | ˘/·· |
| This scripture is fulfilled. One is appointed | 11 | ·/˘·˘/··˘/˘ |
| And hath been sent to them that mourn in Zion, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| To give them beauty for ashes, and the oil | 11 | ···/˘·/˘··· |
| Of joy for mourning! They shall build again | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| The old waste-places; and again raise up | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| The former desolations, and repair | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘·˘/ |
| The cities that are wasted! As a bridegroom | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/· |
| Decketh himself with ornaments; as a bride | 10 | /˘˘/·/˘··· |
| Adorneth herself with jewels, so the Lord | 11 | ˘/˘˘/·/˘··· |
| Hath clothed me with the robe of righteousness! | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| He speaks the Prophet's words; but with an air | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| As if himself had been foreshadowed in them! | 11 | ··˘/··˘/˘·· |
| For Zion's sake I will not hold my peace, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Until its righteousness be as a brightness, | 11 | ···/˘˘···/˘ |
| And its salvation as a lamp that burneth! | 11 | ··˘/˘····/˘ |
| Thou shalt be called no longer the Forsaken, | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| Nor any more thy land the Desolate. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| The Lord hath sworn, by his right hand hath sworn, | 10 | ·········· |
| And by his arm of strength: I will no more | 10 | ·········· |
| Give to thine enemies thy corn as meat; | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| The sons of strangers shall not drink thy wine. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Go through, go through the gates! Prepare a way | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Unto the people! Gather out the stones! | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Lift up a standard for the people! | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Ah! | 1 | · |
| These are seditious words! | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| And they shall call them | 5 | ····· |
| The holy people; the redeemed of God! | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| And thou, Jerusalem, shalt be called Sought out, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| A city not forsaken! | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Is not this | 3 | ··· |
| The carpenter Joseph's son? Is not his mother | 11 | ·/˘/˘····/˘ |
| Called Mary? and his brethren and his sisters | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| Are they not with us? Doth he make himself | 10 | ········˘/ |
| To be a Prophet? | 5 | ···/˘ |
| No man is a Prophet | 6 | ····/˘ |
| In his own country, and among his kin. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| In his own house no Prophet is accepted. | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| I say to you, in the land of Israel | 11 | ········/˘˘ |
| Were many widows in Elijah's day, | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| When for three years and more the heavens were shut, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| And a great famine was throughout the land; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| But unto no one was Elijah sent | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Save to Sarepta, to a city of Sidon, | 12 | ·······/˘·/˘ |
| And to a woman there that was a widow. | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| And many lepers were then in the land | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Of Israel, in the time of Eliseus | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The Prophet, and yet none of them was cleansed, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Save Naaman the Syrian! | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Say no more! | 3 | ··· |
| Thou comest here into our Synagogue | 10 | ······//˘· |
| And speakest to the Elders and the Priests, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| As if the very mantle of Elijah | 11 | ···/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Had fallen upon thee! Are thou not ashamed? | 11 | ·/˘······˘/ |
| We want no Prophets here! Let him be driven | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| From Synagogue and city! Let him go | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And prophesy to the Samaritans! | 10 | ·/˘˘··˘/˘˘ |
| The world is changed. We Elders are as nothing! | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| We are but yesterdays, that have no part | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Or portion in to-day! Dry leaves that rustle, | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| That make a little sound, and then are dust! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| A carpenter's apprentice! a mechanic, | 11 | ·/˘˘˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Whom we have seen at work here in the town | 10 | ·········· |
| Day after day; a stripling without learning, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Shall he pretend to unfold the Word of God | 11 | ··˘/·˘/···· |
| To men grown old in study of the Law? | 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.