Against Hypocrites
Deep in their hearts they hide the lusts of Hell:Christ's name is written on their brow, that thoseWho only view the husk, may not supposeWhat guile and malice harbour in the shell.O God! O Wisdom! Holy Fervour! WellOf strength invincible to strike Thy foes!Give me the force--my spirit burns and glows--To strip those idols and to break their spell!The zeal I bear unto Thy name benign,The love I feel for truth sincere and pure,When such men triumph, make me rend my hair.How long shall folk this infamy endure--That he should be held sacred, he divine,Who strips e'en corpses in the graveyard bare?
Ye vile offscourings! with unblushing faceDare ye claim sonship to our heavenly Sire,Who serve brute vices, crouching in the mireTo hounds and conies, beasts that ape our race?Such truckling is called virtue by the baseHucksters of sophistry, the priest and friar,--Gilt claws of tyrant brutes,--who lie for hire,Preaching that God delights in this disgrace.Look well, ye brainless folk! Do fathers holdTheir children slaves to serfs? Do sheep obeyThe witless ram? Why make a beast your king?If there are no archangels, let your foldBe governed by the sense of all: why strayFrom men to worship every filthy thing?
Words in this poem
- harbour n.
- A station for rest and entertainment; a place of security and comfort; a refuge; a shelter. [OE herbor, herberwe, herberge, Icel. herbergi (cf. OHG. heriberga), orig., a shelter for soldiers; herr army + bjarga to save, help, defend; akin to AS. here ar]
- fervour n.
- Heat; excessive warmth. [OF. fervor, fervour, F. ferveur, L. fervor, fr. fervere. See Fervent.]
- 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,]
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- graveyard n.
- A yard or inclosure for the interment of the dead; a cemetery.
- unblushing a.
- Not blushing; shameless.
- sonship n.
- The state of being a son, or of bearing the relation of a son; filiation. Dr. H. More.
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- sophistry n.
- The art or process of reasoning; logic. [OE. sophistrie, OF. sophisterie.]
- brainless a.
- Without understanding; silly; thougthless; witless.
- witless a.
- Destitute of wit or understanding; wanting thought; hence, indiscreet; not under the guidance of judgment.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Against Hypocrites is in the public domain. This text is taken from Sonnets, Project Gutenberg ebook #10314, the John Addington Symonds translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Michelangelo Buonarroti, Against Hypocrites, in Sonnets (1878), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #10314, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/michelangelo-sonnets/against-hypocrites.html, id L15254.
Form and metre
Against Hypocrites is 28 lines in 2 stanzas of 14 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABBAABBACDEDCE hellA · thoseB · supposeB · shellA · wellA · foesB · glowsB · spellA · benignC · pureD · hairE · endureD · divineC · bareE
- 2 ABBAABBACDECDE faceA · sireB · mireB · raceA · baseA · friarB · hireB · disgraceA · holdC · obeyD · kingE · foldC · strayD · thingE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Deep in their hearts they hide the lusts of Hell: | 10 | ·········· |
| Christ's name is written on their brow, that those | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Who only view the husk, may not suppose | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| What guile and malice harbour in the shell. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| O God! O Wisdom! Holy Fervour! Well | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Of strength invincible to strike Thy foes! | 10 | ··˘/˘˘···· |
| Give me the force--my spirit burns and glows-- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To strip those idols and to break their spell! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The zeal I bear unto Thy name benign, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| The love I feel for truth sincere and pure, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| When such men triumph, make me rend my hair. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| How long shall folk this infamy endure-- | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘/ |
| That he should be held sacred, he divine, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Who strips e'en corpses in the graveyard bare? | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| Ye vile offscourings! with unblushing face | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Dare ye claim sonship to our heavenly Sire, | 10 | ···/˘·//˘/ |
| Who serve brute vices, crouching in the mire | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| To hounds and conies, beasts that ape our race? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Such truckling is called virtue by the base | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Hucksters of sophistry, the priest and friar,-- | 11 | /˘·/˘˘···/˘ |
| Gilt claws of tyrant brutes,--who lie for hire, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Preaching that God delights in this disgrace. | 10 | /˘··˘/··˘/ |
| Look well, ye brainless folk! Do fathers hold | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Their children slaves to serfs? Do sheep obey | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| The witless ram? Why make a beast your king? | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| If there are no archangels, let your fold | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Be governed by the sense of all: why stray | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| From men to worship every filthy thing? | 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.