In the Time of War and Tumults
O Lord Almighty, Thou whose handsDespair and victory give;In whom, though tyrants tread their lands,The souls of nations live;
Thou wilt not turn Thy face awayFrom those who work Thy will,But send Thy peace on hearts that pray,And guard Thy people still.
Remember not the days of shame,The hands with rapine dyed,The wavering will, the baser aim,The brute material pride:
Remember, Lord, the years of faith,The spirits humbly brave,The strength that died defying death,The love that loved the slave;
The race that strove to rule Thine earthWith equal laws unbought:Who bore for Truth the pangs of birth,And brake the bonds of Thought.
Remember how, since time began,Thy dark eternal mindThrough lives of men that fear not manIs light for all mankind.
Thou wilt not turn Thy face awayFrom those who work Thy will,But send Thy strength on hearts that prayFor strength to serve Thee still.
Words in this poem
- humbly adv.
- With humility; lowly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In the Time of War and Tumults is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems: New and Old, Project Gutenberg ebook #24405; 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 John Newbolt, In the Time of War and Tumults, in Poems: New and Old (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #24405, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/newbolt-poems/in-the-time-of-war-and-tumults.html, id L11513.
Form and metre
In the Time of War and Tumults is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 6 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 ABAB handsA · giveB · landsA · liveB
- 2 ABAB awayA · willB · prayA · stillB
- 3 ABAB shameA · dyedB · aimA · prideB
- 4 -A-A faith · braveA · death · slaveA
- 5 ABAB earthA · unboughtB · birthA · thoughtB
- 6 ABAB beganA · mindB · manA · mankindB
- 7 ABAB awayA · willB · prayA · stillB
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| O Lord Almighty, Thou whose hands | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Despair and victory give; | 7 | ˘/·/˘˘· |
| In whom, though tyrants tread their lands, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The souls of nations live; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Thou wilt not turn Thy face away | 8 | ······˘/ |
| From those who work Thy will, | 6 | ······ |
| But send Thy peace on hearts that pray, | 8 | ········ |
| And guard Thy people still. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Remember not the days of shame, | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| The hands with rapine dyed, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The wavering will, the baser aim, | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| The brute material pride: | 7 | ··˘/˘˘· |
| Remember, Lord, the years of faith, | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| The spirits humbly brave, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| The strength that died defying death, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| The love that loved the slave; | 6 | ······ |
| The race that strove to rule Thine earth | 8 | ········ |
| With equal laws unbought: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Who bore for Truth the pangs of birth, | 8 | ········ |
| And brake the bonds of Thought. | 6 | ······ |
| Remember how, since time began, | 8 | ˘/˘···˘/ |
| Thy dark eternal mind | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Through lives of men that fear not man | 8 | ········ |
| Is light for all mankind. | 6 | ····// |
| Thou wilt not turn Thy face away | 8 | ······˘/ |
| From those who work Thy will, | 6 | ······ |
| But send Thy strength on hearts that pray | 8 | ········ |
| For strength to serve Thee still. | 6 | ······ |
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.