Poems
The spacious firmament on high,With all the blue ethereal sky,And spangled heavens, a shining frame,Their great Original proclaim.Th’ unwearied Sun from day to dayDoes his Creator’s power display;And publishes to every landThe work of an Almighty hand.
Soon as the evening shades prevail,The Moon takes up the wondrous tale;And nightly to the listening EarthRepeats the story of her birth:Whilst all the stars that round her burn,And all the planets in their turn,Confirm the tidings as they roll,And spread the truth from pole to pole.
What though in solemn silence allMove round the dark terrestrial ball;What though nor real voice nor soundAmidst their radiant orbs be found?In Reason’s ear they all rejoice,And utter forth a glorious voice;For ever singing as they shine,‘The Hand that made us is divine.’
Words in this poem
- firmament n.
- Fixed foundation; established basis. [L. firmamentum, fr. firmare to make firm: cf. F. firmament. See Firm, v. & a.]
- unwearied a.
- Not wearied; not fatigued or tired; hence, persistent; not tiring or wearying; indefatigable.
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- nightly a.
- Of or pertaining to the night, or to every night; happening or done by night, or every night; as, nightly shades; he kept nightly vigils.
- amidst 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]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poems is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900, Project Gutenberg ebook #66619; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Joseph Addison, Poems, (1672–1719), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-joseph-addison/hymn.html, id L16145.
Form and metre
Hymn is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABBCCDD. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 21% 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 AABBCCDD highA · skyA · frameB · proclaimB · dayC · displayC · landD · handD
- 2 AABBCCDD prevailA · taleA · earthB · birthB · burnC · turnC · rollD · poleD
- 3 AABBCCDD allA · ballA · soundB · foundB · rejoiceC · voiceC · shineD · divineD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The spacious firmament on high, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| With all the blue ethereal sky, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And spangled heavens, a shining frame, | 9 | ·/˘/˘·/˘· |
| Their great Original proclaim. | 8 | ··˘/˘˘˘/ |
| Th’ unwearied Sun from day to day | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Does his Creator’s power display; | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘/ |
| And publishes to every land | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| The work of an Almighty hand. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Soon as the evening shades prevail, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The Moon takes up the wondrous tale; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And nightly to the listening Earth | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Repeats the story of her birth: | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Whilst all the stars that round her burn, | 8 | ········ |
| And all the planets in their turn, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Confirm the tidings as they roll, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| And spread the truth from pole to pole. | 8 | ········ |
| What though in solemn silence all | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Move round the dark terrestrial ball; | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| What though nor real voice nor sound | 7 | ······· |
| Amidst their radiant orbs be found? | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| In Reason’s ear they all rejoice, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And utter forth a glorious voice; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| For ever singing as they shine, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| ‘The Hand that made us is divine.’ | 8 | ······˘/ |
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.