Voices. Jesus of Nazareth!
Mother, it is he!
He hath called Lazarus of BethanyOut of his grave, and raised him from the dead!Hosanna in the highest!
Ye perceiveThat nothing we prevail. Behold, the worldIs all gone after him!
What majesty,What power is in that care-worn countenance!What sweetness, what compassion! I no longerWonder that he hath healed me!
Peace in heaven,And glory in the highest!
Rabbi! Rabbi!Rebuke thy followers!
Should they hold their peaceThe very stones beneath us would cry out!
All hath passed by me like a dream of wonder!But I have seen Him, and have heard his voice,And I am satisfied! I ask no more!
Words in this poem
- hosanna n.
- A Hebrew exclamation of praise to the Lord, or an invocation of blessings. [Gr. hoshi'ah nnasave now, save, we pray, hoshia' to save (Hiphil, a causative form, of yasha') + na, a particle.]
- rabbi n.
- Master; lord; teacher; -- a Jewish title of respect or honor for a teacher or doctor of the law.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Voices. Jesus of 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, Voices. Jesus of Nazareth!, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/voices-jesus-of-nazareth.html, id L17882.
Form and metre
Voices. Jesus of Nazareth! is 20 lines in 8 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.5 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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.
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Mother, it is he! | 5 | /˘··· |
| He hath called Lazarus of Bethany | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘˘ |
| Out of his grave, and raised him from the dead! | 10 | ·········· |
| Hosanna in the highest! | 7 | ˘/˘··/˘ |
| Ye perceive | 3 | ·˘/ |
| That nothing we prevail. Behold, the world | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘/·· |
| Is all gone after him! | 6 | ······ |
| What majesty, | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| What power is in that care-worn countenance! | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘˘ |
| What sweetness, what compassion! I no longer | 11 | ·/˘·˘/˘··/˘ |
| Wonder that he hath healed me! | 7 | /˘····· |
| Peace in heaven, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| And glory in the highest! | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Rabbi! Rabbi! | 4 | /·/· |
| Rebuke thy followers! | 6 | ˘/·/˘˘ |
| Should they hold their peace | 5 | ····· |
| The very stones beneath us would cry out! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| All hath passed by me like a dream of wonder! | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| But I have seen Him, and have heard his voice, | 10 | ·········· |
| And I am satisfied! I ask no more! | 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.