Epilogue
The pure and faithful saint, whose heart is whole,To God the Father makes his sacrificeFrom out the treasures of a stainless soul,Glad gifts of innocence, beyond all price:Another with free hand bestows his gold,Whereby his needy neighbour may be fed.No wealth of holiness my heart doth hold,No store have I to buy my brothers bread:So here I humbly dedicate to TheeThe rolling trochee and iambus swift;Thou wilt approve my simple minstrelsy,Thine ear will listen to Thy servant's gift.The rich man's halls are nobly furnished;Therein no nook or corner empty seems;Here stands the brazen laver burnished,And there the golden goblet brightly gleams;Hard by some crock of clumsy earthen ware,Massive and ample lies a silver plate;And rough-hewn cups of oak or elm are thereWith vases carved of ivory delicate.Yet every vessel in its place is good,So be it for the Master's service meet;The priceless salver and the bowl of woodAlike He needs to make His home complete.Therefore within His Father's spacious hallChrist fits me for the service of a day,Mean though I be, a vessel poor and small,--And in some lowly corner lets me stay.Lo in the palace of the King of KingsI play the earthen pitcher's humble part;Yet to have done Him meanest service bringsA thrill of rapture to my thankful heart:Whate'er the end, this thought will joy afford,My lips have sung the praises of my Lord.
Words in this poem
- stainless a.
- Free from stain; immaculate.
- neighbour v. i.
- To dwell in the vicinity; to be a neighbor, or in the neighborhood; to be near.
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- humbly adv.
- With humility; lowly.
- trochee n.
- A foot of two syllables, the first long and the second short, as in the Latin word ante, or the first accented and the second unaccented, as in the English word motion; a choreus. [L. trochaeus, Gr. Troche, Truck a wheel.]
- minstrelsy n.
- The arts and occupation of minstrels; the singing and playing of a minstrel.
- nobly adv.
- Of noble extraction; as, nobly born or descended.
- nook n.
- A narrow place formed by an angle in bodies or between bodies; a corner; a recess; a secluded retreat. [OE. nok; cf. Gael. & Ir. niuc.]
- crock n.
- The loose black particles collected from combustion, as on pots and kettles, or in a chimney; soot; smut; also, coloring matter which rubs off from cloth. [Cf. W. croeg cover, Scot. crochit covered.]
- clumsy a.
- Stiff or benumbed, as with cold. [OE. clumsed benumbed, fr. clumsen to be benumbed; cf. Icel. klumsa lockjaw, dial. Sw. klummsen benumbed with cold. Cf. 1st Clam, and 1st Clamp.]
- priceless a.
- Too valuable to admit of being appraised; of inestimable worth; invaluable.
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- thankful a.
- Obtaining or deserving thanks; thankworthy. [AS. Þancfull.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Epilogue is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Hymns of Prudentius, Project Gutenberg ebook #14959; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Prudentius, Epilogue, in The Hymns of Prudentius (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #14959, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/prudentius-hymns/epilogue.html, id L23690.
Form and metre
Epilogue is 34 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 ABABCDCD-E-EFGFGHIHIJIJIKLKLMNMNOO wholeA · sacrificeB · soulA · priceB · goldC · fedD · holdC · breadD · thee · swiftE · minstrelsy · giftE · furnishedF · seemsG · burnishedF · gleamsG · wareH · plateI · thereH · delicateI · goodJ · meetI · woodJ · completeI · hallK · dayL · smallK · stayL · kingsM · partN · bringsM · heartN · affordO · lordO
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The pure and faithful saint, whose heart is whole, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To God the Father makes his sacrifice | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| From out the treasures of a stainless soul, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Glad gifts of innocence, beyond all price: | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| Another with free hand bestows his gold, | 10 | ˘/˘···˘/·· |
| Whereby his needy neighbour may be fed. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| No wealth of holiness my heart doth hold, | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| No store have I to buy my brothers bread: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| So here I humbly dedicate to Thee | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| The rolling trochee and iambus swift; | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Thou wilt approve my simple minstrelsy, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘/˘˘ |
| Thine ear will listen to Thy servant's gift. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The rich man's halls are nobly furnished; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Therein no nook or corner empty seems; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Here stands the brazen laver burnished, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| And there the golden goblet brightly gleams; | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Hard by some crock of clumsy earthen ware, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Massive and ample lies a silver plate; | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| And rough-hewn cups of oak or elm are there | 10 | ·········· |
| With vases carved of ivory delicate. | 11 | ·/˘··/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Yet every vessel in its place is good, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| So be it for the Master's service meet; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| The priceless salver and the bowl of wood | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Alike He needs to make His home complete. | 10 | ˘/······˘/ |
| Therefore within His Father's spacious hall | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Christ fits me for the service of a day, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Mean though I be, a vessel poor and small,-- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And in some lowly corner lets me stay. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Lo in the palace of the King of Kings | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| I play the earthen pitcher's humble part; | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Yet to have done Him meanest service brings | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| A thrill of rapture to my thankful heart: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Whate'er the end, this thought will joy afford, | 11 | ˘˘/······˘/ |
| My lips have sung the praises of my Lord. | 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.