On the Death of C. T. Torrey
Woe worth the hour when it is crimeTo plead the poor dumb bondman's cause,When all that makes the heart sublime,The glorious throbs that conquer time,Are traitors to our cruel laws!
He strove among God's suffering poorOne gleam of brotherhood to send;The dungeon oped its hungry doorTo give the truth one martyr more,Then shut,--and here behold the end!
O Mother State! when this was done,No pitying throe thy bosom gave;Silent thou saw'st the death-shroud spun,And now thou givest to thy sonThe stranger's charity--a grave.
Must it be thus forever? No!The hand of God sows not in vain;Long sleeps the darkling seed below,The seasons come, and change, and go,And all the fields are deep with grain.
Although our brother lie asleep,Man's heart still struggles, still aspires;His grave shall quiver yet, while deepThrough the brave Bay State's pulses leapHer ancient energies and fires.
When hours like this the senses' gushHave stilled, and left the spirit room,It hears amid the eternal hushThe swooping pinions' dreadful rush,That brings the vengeance and the doom;--
Not man's brute vengeance, such as rendsWhat rivets man to man apart,--God doth not so bring round his ends,But waits the ripened time, and sendsHis mercy to the oppressor's heart.
Words in this poem
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- dungeon n.
- A close, dark prison, commondonjon or keep of a castle, these being used as prisons. [OE. donjoun highest tower of a castle, tower, prison, F. donjon tower or platform in the midst of a castle, turret, or closet on the top of a house, a keep of a]
- pitying a.
- Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word.
- throe n.
- Extreme pain; violent pang; anguish; agony; especially, one of the pangs of travail in childbirth, or purturition. [OE. , , AS. a threatening, oppression, suffering, perhaps influenced by Icel. a throe, a pang, a longing; cf. AS. to suffer.]
- darkling a.
- Becoming dark or gloomy; frowing.
- 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,]
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Death of C. T. Torrey 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 Death of C. T. Torrey, in Poems (1844–1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #38520, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lowell-james-russell-poems/on-the-death-of-c-t-torrey.html, id L13744.
Form and metre
On the Death of C. T. Torrey is 35 lines in 7 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAAB, complete in 6 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.4 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% 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.
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 ABAAB crimeA · causeB · sublimeA · timeA · lawsB
- 2 -ABBA poor · sendA · doorB · moreB · endA
- 3 ABAAB doneA · gaveB · spunA · sonA · graveB
- 4 ABAAB noA · vainB · belowA · goA · grainB
- 5 ABAAB asleepA · aspiresB · deepA · leapA · firesB
- 6 ABAAB gushA · roomB · hushA · rushA · doomB
- 7 ABAAB rendsA · apartB · endsA · sendsA · heartB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Woe worth the hour when it is crime | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| To plead the poor dumb bondman's cause, | 8 | ········ |
| When all that makes the heart sublime, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The glorious throbs that conquer time, | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| Are traitors to our cruel laws! | 9 | ·/˘·/˘/˘· |
| He strove among God's suffering poor | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| One gleam of brotherhood to send; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The dungeon oped its hungry door | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To give the truth one martyr more, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Then shut,--and here behold the end! | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| O Mother State! when this was done, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| No pitying throe thy bosom gave; | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| Silent thou saw'st the death-shroud spun, | 8 | /˘······ |
| And now thou givest to thy son | 8 | ········ |
| The stranger's charity--a grave. | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Must it be thus forever? No! | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| The hand of God sows not in vain; | 8 | ········ |
| Long sleeps the darkling seed below, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The seasons come, and change, and go, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And all the fields are deep with grain. | 8 | ········ |
| Although our brother lie asleep, | 9 | ··/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Man's heart still struggles, still aspires; | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| His grave shall quiver yet, while deep | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Through the brave Bay State's pulses leap | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Her ancient energies and fires. | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘ |
| When hours like this the senses' gush | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Have stilled, and left the spirit room, | 9 | ··˘···/˘· |
| It hears amid the eternal hush | 9 | ··˘/·˘/˘· |
| The swooping pinions' dreadful rush, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That brings the vengeance and the doom;-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Not man's brute vengeance, such as rends | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| What rivets man to man apart,-- | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| God doth not so bring round his ends, | 8 | ········ |
| But waits the ripened time, and sends | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| His mercy to the oppressor's heart. | 9 | ·/˘··˘/˘· |
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.