Maximus
Many, if God should make them kings,Might not disgrace the throne He gave;How few who could as well fulfilThe holier office of a slave.
I hold him great who, for Love's sakeCan give, with generous, earnest will,--Yet he who takes for Love's sweet sake,I think I hold more generous still.
I prize the instinct that can turnFrom vain pretence with proud disdain;Yet more I prize a simple heart;Paying credulity with pain.
I bow before the noble mindThat freely some great wrong forgives;Yet nobler is the one forgiven,Who bears that burden well, and lives.
It may be hard to gain, and stillTo keep a lowly steadfast heartYet he who loses has to fillA harder and a truer part.
Glorious it is to wear the crownOf a deserved and pure success;--He who knows how to fail has wonA Crown whose lustre is not less.
Great may he be who can commandAnd rule with just and tender sway;Yet is diviner wisdom taughtBetter by him who can obey.
Blessed are those who die for God,And earn the Martyr's crown of light--Yet he who lives for God may beA greater Conqueror in His sight.
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- pretence n.
- The act of laying claim; the claim laid; assumption; pretension. [LL. praetensus, for L. praetentus, p. p. of praetendere. See Pretend, and cf. Tension.]
- 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.]
- lustre n.
- A period of five years; a lustrum. [L. lustrum: cf. F. lustre.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Maximus is in the public domain. This text is taken from Legends and Lyrics. Part 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #2304; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Adelaide Anne Procter, Maximus, in Legends and Lyrics: Second Series (1861), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2304, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/procter-legends-lyrics/maximus.html, id L21761.
Form and metre
Maximus is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABAB, in 2 of the 8 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 -A-A kings · gaveA · fulfil · slaveA
- 2 ABAB sakeA · willB · sakeA · stillB
- 3 -A-A turn · disdainA · heart · painA
- 4 -A-A mind · forgivesA · forgiven · livesA
- 5 ABAB stillA · heartB · fillA · partB
- 6 -A-A crown · successA · won · lessA
- 7 -A-A command · swayA · taught · obeyA
- 8 -A-A god · lightA · be · sightA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Many, if God should make them kings, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Might not disgrace the throne He gave; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| How few who could as well fulfil | 8 | ········ |
| The holier office of a slave. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| I hold him great who, for Love's sake | 8 | ········ |
| Can give, with generous, earnest will,-- | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Yet he who takes for Love's sweet sake, | 8 | ········ |
| I think I hold more generous still. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I prize the instinct that can turn | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| From vain pretence with proud disdain; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Yet more I prize a simple heart; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Paying credulity with pain. | 8 | /˘˘/˘˘·· |
| I bow before the noble mind | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That freely some great wrong forgives; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Yet nobler is the one forgiven, | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Who bears that burden well, and lives. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| It may be hard to gain, and still | 8 | ········ |
| To keep a lowly steadfast heart | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| Yet he who loses has to fill | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A harder and a truer part. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Glorious it is to wear the crown | 8 | /˘······ |
| Of a deserved and pure success;-- | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| He who knows how to fail has won | 8 | ········ |
| A Crown whose lustre is not less. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Great may he be who can command | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And rule with just and tender sway; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Yet is diviner wisdom taught | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Better by him who can obey. | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| Blessed are those who die for God, | 8 | ·˘······ |
| And earn the Martyr's crown of light-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Yet he who lives for God may be | 8 | ········ |
| A greater Conqueror in His sight. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
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