The Choir Invisible
O, may I join the choir invisibleOf those immortal dead who live againIn minds made better by their presence; liveIn pulses stirred to generosity,In deeds of daring rectitude, in scornOf miserable aims that end with self,In thoughts sublime that pierce the night like stars,And with their mild persistence urge men’s mindsTo vaster issues.May I reachThat purest heaven,--be to other soulsThe cup of strength in some great agony,Enkindle generous ardour, feed pure love,Beget the smiles that have no cruelty,Be the sweet presence of good diffused,And in diffusion ever more intense!So shall I join the choir invisible,Whose music is the gladness of the world.
Words in this poem
- generosity n.
- Noble birth. Harris (Voyages). [L. generositas: cf. F. générosité.]
- enkindle v. t.
- To set on fire; to inflame; to kindle.
- generous a.
- Of honorable birth or origin; highborn. [F. généreux, fr. L. generous of noble birth, noble, excellent, magnanimous, fr. genus birth, race: cf. It. generoso. See 2d Gender.]
- ardour n.
- Heat, in a literal sense; as, the ardor of the sun's rays. [L. ardor, fr. ardere to burn: cf. OF. ardor, ardur, F. ardeur.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Choir Invisible is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Every Child Should Know The What-Every-Child-Should-Know-Library, Project Gutenberg ebook #16436; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Mary E. Burt, The Choir Invisible, in Poems Every Child Should Know (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16436, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poems-every-child/the-choir-invisible.html, id L25322.
Form and metre
The Choir Invisible is 18 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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---------------A- invisibleA · again · live · generosity · scorn · self · stars · minds · issues · reach · souls · agony · love · cruelty · diffused · intense · invisibleA · world
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O, may I join the choir invisible | 11 | ·····/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Of those immortal dead who live again | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| In minds made better by their presence; live | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| In pulses stirred to generosity, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘˘ |
| In deeds of daring rectitude, in scorn | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Of miserable aims that end with self, | 10 | ·/˘˘˘····· |
| In thoughts sublime that pierce the night like stars, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| And with their mild persistence urge men’s minds | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| To vaster issues. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| May I reach | 3 | ··· |
| That purest heaven,--be to other souls | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| The cup of strength in some great agony, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Enkindle generous ardour, feed pure love, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Beget the smiles that have no cruelty, | 9 | ˘/·····/˘ |
| Be the sweet presence of good diffused, | 10 | ···/˘··˘/˘ |
| And in diffusion ever more intense! | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| So shall I join the choir invisible, | 11 | ·····/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Whose music is the gladness of the world. | 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.