Harvest Hymn
Men's VoicesLord of the lotus, lord of the harvest,Bright and munificent lord of the morn!Thine is the bounty that prospered our sowing,Thine is the bounty that nurtured our corn.We bring thee our songs and our garlands for tribute,The gold of our fields and the gold of our fruit;O giver of mellowing radiance, we hail thee,We praise thee, O Surya, with cymbal and flute.
Lord of the rainbow, lord of the harvest,Great and beneficent lord of the main!Thine is the mercy that cherished our furrows,Thine is the mercy that fostered our grain.We bring thee our thanks and our garlands for tribute,The wealth of our valleys, new-garnered and ripe;O sender of rain and the dewfall, we hail thee,We praise thee, Varuna, with cymbal and pipe.
Women's VoicesQueen of the gourd-flower, queen of the harvest,Sweet and omnipotent mother, O Earth!Thine is the plentiful bosom that feeds us,Thine is the womb where our riches have birth.We bring thee our love and our garlands for tribute,With gifts of thy opulent giving we come;O source of our manifold gladness, we hail thee,We praise thee, O Prithvi, with cymbal and drum.
All VoicesLord of the Universe, Lord of our being,Father eternal, ineffable Om!Thou art the Seed and the Scythe of our harvests,Thou art our Hands and our Heart and our Home.We bring thee our lives and our labours for tribute,Grant us thy succour, thy counsel, thy care.O Life of all life and all blessing, we hail thee,We praise thee, O Bramha, with cymbal and prayer.
Words in this poem
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- bounty n.
- Goodness, kindness; virtue; worth. [OE. bounte goodness, kindness, F. bonté, fr. L. bonitas, fr. bonus good, for older duonus; cf. Skr. duvas honor, respect.]
- giver n.
- One who gives; a donor; a bestower; a grantor; one who imparts or distributes.
- cymbal n.
- A musical instrument used by the ancients. It is supposed to have been similar to the modern kettle drum, though perhaps smaller. [OE. cimbale, simbale, OF. cimbale, F. cymbale, L. cymbalum, fr. Gr. kubha pot. Cf. Chime.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- dewfall n.
- The falling of dew; the time when dew begins to fall.
- womb n.
- The belly; the abdomen. [OE. wombe, wambe, AS. wamb, womb; akin to D. wam belly, OS. & OHG. wamba, G. wamme, wampe, Icel. vömb, Sw. v&mb, Dan. vom, Goth. wamba.]
- succour v. t.
- tiono run to, or run to support; hence, to help or relieve when in difficulty, want, or distress; to assist and deliver from suffering; to relieve; as, to succor a besieged city. [OE. socouren, OF. sucurre, soucourre, secorre, F. secourir, L. succurrere, succursum, to run under, run to the aid of, help, succor; sub under + currere to run.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Harvest Hymn is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Golden Threshold, with an introduction by Arthur Symons (Hyderabad, 1905; London, John Lane, 1905), Project Gutenberg ebook #680; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Sarojini Naidu, Harvest Hymn, in The Golden Threshold (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #680, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/naidu-golden-threshold/harvest-hymn.html, id L27483.
Form and metre
Harvest Hymn is 35 lines in 4 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
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 --A-ABB-B voices · harvest · mornA · sowing · cornA · tributeB · fruitB · thee · fluteB
- 2 -A-A-B-B harvest · mainA · furrows · grainA · tribute · ripeB · thee · pipeB
- 3 --A-A-B-B voices · harvest · earthA · us · birthA · tribute · comeB · thee · drumB
- 4 ------A-A voices · being · om · harvests · home · tribute · careA · thee · prayerA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Men's Voices | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Lord of the lotus, lord of the harvest, | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| Bright and munificent lord of the morn! | 10 | ··˘/˘˘···· |
| Thine is the bounty that prospered our sowing, | 11 | ···/˘·/˘//˘ |
| Thine is the bounty that nurtured our corn. | 10 | ···/˘·/˘/· |
| We bring thee our songs and our garlands for tribute, | 12 | ···/··//˘·/˘ |
| The gold of our fields and the gold of our fruit; | 11 | ···/·····/· |
| O giver of mellowing radiance, we hail thee, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘/˘··· |
| We praise thee, O Surya, with cymbal and flute. | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Lord of the rainbow, lord of the harvest, | 10 | ···/····/˘ |
| Great and beneficent lord of the main! | 10 | ···˘/˘···· |
| Thine is the mercy that cherished our furrows, | 11 | ···/˘·/˘//˘ |
| Thine is the mercy that fostered our grain. | 10 | ···/˘·/˘/· |
| We bring thee our thanks and our garlands for tribute, | 12 | ···/··//˘·/˘ |
| The wealth of our valleys, new-garnered and ripe; | 11 | ···//˘·/˘·· |
| O sender of rain and the dewfall, we hail thee, | 12 | ·/˘····/˘··· |
| We praise thee, Varuna, with cymbal and pipe. | 11 | ···˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Women's Voices | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Queen of the gourd-flower, queen of the harvest, | 11 | ····/˘···/˘ |
| Sweet and omnipotent mother, O Earth! | 10 | ··˘/˘˘/˘·· |
| Thine is the plentiful bosom that feeds us, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Thine is the womb where our riches have birth. | 10 | ·····//˘·· |
| We bring thee our love and our garlands for tribute, | 12 | ···/··//˘·/˘ |
| With gifts of thy opulent giving we come; | 10 | ····/˘/˘·· |
| O source of our manifold gladness, we hail thee, | 12 | ···//˘·/˘··· |
| We praise thee, O Prithvi, with cymbal and drum. | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| All Voices | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Lord of the Universe, Lord of our being, | 11 | ···/˘···//˘ |
| Father eternal, ineffable Om! | 10 | /˘˘/˘˘/˘˘· |
| Thou art the Seed and the Scythe of our harvests, | 11 | ········//˘ |
| Thou art our Hands and our Heart and our Home. | 10 | ··/··/··/· |
| We bring thee our lives and our labours for tribute, | 12 | ···/··//˘·/˘ |
| Grant us thy succour, thy counsel, thy care. | 10 | ···/˘·/˘·· |
| O Life of all life and all blessing, we hail thee, | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| We praise thee, O Bramha, with cymbal and prayer. | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
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.