On the Capture of Certain Fugitive Slaves Near Washington
Look on who will in apathy, and stifle they who can,The sympathies, the hopes, the words, that make man truly man;Let those whose hearts are dungeoned up with interest or with easeConsent to hear with quiet pulse of loathsome deeds like these!
I first drew in New England's air, and from her hardy breastSucked in the tyrant-hating milk that will not let me rest;And if my words seem treason to the dullard and the tame,'Tis but my Bay-State dialect,--our fathers spake the same!
Shame on the costly mockery of piling stone on stoneTo those who won our liberty, the heroes dead and gone,While we look coldly on, and see law-shielded ruffians slayThe men who fain would win their own, the heroes of to-day!
Are we pledged to craven silence? O fling it to the wind,The parchment wall that bars us from the least of human kind,--That makes us cringe and temporize, and dumbly stand at rest,While Pity's burning flood of words is red-hot in the breast!
Though we break our fathers' promise, we have nobler duties first;The traitor to Humanity is the traitor most accursed;Man is more than Constitutions; better rot beneath the sod,Than be true to Church and State while we are doubly false to God!
We owe allegiance to the State; but deeper, truer, more,To the sympathies that God hath set within our spirit's core;--Our country claims our fealty; we grant it so, but thenBefore Man made us citizens, great Nature made us men.
He's true to God who's true to man; wherever wrong is done,To the humblest and the weakest, neath the all-beholding sun,That wrong is also done to us; and they are slaves most base,Whose love of right is for themselves, and not for all their race.
God works for all. Ye cannot hem the hope of being freeWith parallels of latitude, with mountain-range or sea.Put golden padlocks on Truth's lips, be callous as ye will,From soul to soul o'er all the world, leaps one electric thrill.
Chain down your slaves with ignorance, ye cannot keep apart,With all your craft of tyranny, the human heart from heart:When first the Pilgrims landed on the Bay-State's iron shore,The word went forth that slavery should one day be no more.
Out from the land of bondage 'tis decreed our slaves shall go,And signs to us are offered, as erst to Pharaoh;If we are blind, their exodus, like Israel's of yore,Through a Red Sea is doomed to be, whose surges are of gore.'Tis ours to save our brethren, with peace and love to winTheir darkened hearts from error, ere they harden it to sin;But if before his duty man with listless spirit stands,Ere long the Great Avenger takes the work from out his hands.
Words in this poem
- coldly adv.
- In a cold manner; without warmth, animation, or feeling; with indifference; calmly.
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- craven v. t.
- To make recreant, weak, spiritless, or cowardly.
- temporize v. t.
- To comply with the time or occasion; to humor, or yield to, the current of opinion or circumstances; also, to trim, as between two parties. [F. temporiser. See Temporal of time.]
- dumbly adv.
- In silence; mutely.
- wherever adv.
- At or in whatever place; wheresoever.
- beholding a.
- Obliged; beholden.
- craft n.
- Strength; might; secret power. [AS. cr strength, skill, art, cunning; akin to OS., G., Sw., & Dan. kraft strength, D. kracht, Icel. kraptr; perh. originally, a drawing together, stretching, fr]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- 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,]
- pharaoh n.
- A title by which the sovereigns of ancient Egypt were designated. [Heb. paroh; of Egyptian origin: cf. L. pharao, Gr. Faro.]
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- listless a.
- Having no desire or inclination; indifferent; heedless; spiritless. [OE. listles, lustles. See Lust.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Capture of Certain Fugitive Slaves Near Washington is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of James Russell Lowell With biographical sketch by Nathan Haskell Dole, Project Gutenberg ebook #38520; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: James Russell Lowell, On the Capture of Certain Fugitive Slaves Near Washington, in Poems (1844–1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #38520, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lowell-james-russell-poems/on-the-capture-of-certain-fugitive-slaves-near-washington.html, id L13718.
Form and metre
On the Capture of Certain Fugitive Slaves Near Washington is 44 lines in 10 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 8 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 13.7 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 16% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic heptameter.
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 canA · manA · easeB · theseB
- 2 AABB breastA · restA · tameB · sameB
- 3 --AA stone · gone · slayA · dayA
- 4 AABB windA · kindA · restB · breastB
- 5 AABB firstA · accursedA · sodB · godB
- 6 AABB moreA · coreA · thenB · menB
- 7 AABB doneA · sunA · baseB · raceB
- 8 AABB freeA · seaA · willB · thrillB
- 9 AABB apartA · heartA · shoreB · moreB
- 10 --AABBCC go · pharaoh · yoreA · goreA · winB · sinB · standsC · handsC
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 heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Look on who will in apathy, and stifle they who can, | 13 | ·····/˘·/˘··· |
| The sympathies, the hopes, the words, that make man truly man; | 13 | ·/˘·······/˘· |
| Let those whose hearts are dungeoned up with interest or with ease | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘··· |
| Consent to hear with quiet pulse of loathsome deeds like these! | 13 | ˘/···/··/˘··· |
| I first drew in New England's air, and from her hardy breast | 14 | ·····/˘····/˘· |
| Sucked in the tyrant-hating milk that will not let me rest; | 14 | ···/˘/˘······· |
| And if my words seem treason to the dullard and the tame, | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘··· |
| 'Tis but my Bay-State dialect,--our fathers spake the same! | 14 | ·····/˘·//˘··· |
| Shame on the costly mockery of piling stone on stone | 13 | ···/˘/˘·/˘··· |
| To those who won our liberty, the heroes dead and gone, | 13 | ····//˘·/˘··· |
| While we look coldly on, and see law-shielded ruffians slay | 14 | ···/˘····/˘··· |
| The men who fain would win their own, the heroes of to-day! | 14 | ·········/˘··· |
| Are we pledged to craven silence? O fling it to the wind, | 14 | ····/˘/˘······ |
| The parchment wall that bars us from the least of human kind,-- | 14 | ·/˘········/˘· |
| That makes us cringe and temporize, and dumbly stand at rest, | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘··· |
| While Pity's burning flood of words is red-hot in the breast! | 14 | ·/˘/˘········· |
| Though we break our fathers' promise, we have nobler duties first; | 15 | ···//˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| The traitor to Humanity is the traitor most accursed; | 14 | ·/˘·˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Man is more than Constitutions; better rot beneath the sod, | 15 | ·····˘/˘/˘····· |
| Than be true to Church and State while we are doubly false to God! | 15 | ··········/˘··· |
| We owe allegiance to the State; but deeper, truer, more, | 14 | ··˘/˘····/˘/˘· |
| To the sympathies that God hath set within our spirit's core;-- | 14 | ··/˘······//˘· |
| Our country claims our fealty; we grant it so, but then | 13 | //˘·//˘······ |
| Before Man made us citizens, great Nature made us men. | 13 | ·····/˘·/˘··· |
| He's true to God who's true to man; wherever wrong is done, | 14 | ········˘/˘··· |
| To the humblest and the weakest, neath the all-beholding sun, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘···˘/˘· |
| That wrong is also done to us; and they are slaves most base, | 14 | ···/˘········· |
| Whose love of right is for themselves, and not for all their race. | 14 | ······˘/······ |
| God works for all. Ye cannot hem the hope of being free | 13 | ·····/˘····/· |
| With parallels of latitude, with mountain-range or sea. | 14 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| Put golden padlocks on Truth's lips, be callous as ye will, | 14 | ·/˘/·····/˘··· |
| From soul to soul o'er all the world, leaps one electric thrill. | 14 | ··········˘/˘· |
| Chain down your slaves with ignorance, ye cannot keep apart, | 13 | ·····/˘·/˘·˘/ |
| With all your craft of tyranny, the human heart from heart: | 13 | ·····/˘·/˘··· |
| When first the Pilgrims landed on the Bay-State's iron shore, | 13 | ···/˘/˘····/· |
| The word went forth that slavery should one day be no more. | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| Out from the land of bondage 'tis decreed our slaves shall go, | 14 | ·····/˘·˘//··· |
| And signs to us are offered, as erst to Pharaoh; | 12 | ·····/˘···/˘ |
| If we are blind, their exodus, like Israel's of yore, | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| Through a Red Sea is doomed to be, whose surges are of gore. | 14 | ·········/˘··· |
| 'Tis ours to save our brethren, with peace and love to win | 13 | ·/··//˘······ |
| Their darkened hearts from error, ere they harden it to sin; | 14 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| But if before his duty man with listless spirit stands, | 13 | ·····/˘··/˘/· |
| Ere long the Great Avenger takes the work from out his hands. | 14 | ····˘/˘······· |
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.