For the St. Nicholas Society of New York
Among the earliest saints of old, before the first Hegira,I find the one whose name we hold, St. Nicholas of Myra:The best-beloved name, I guess, in sacred nomenclature,--The patron-saint of helpfulness, and friendship, and good-nature.
A bishop and a preacher too, a famous theologian,He stood against the Arian crew and fought them like a Trojan:But when a poor man told his need and begged an alms in trouble,He never asked about his creed, but quickly gave him double.
Three pretty maidens, so they say, were longing to be married;But they were paupers, lack-a-day, and so the suitors tarried.St. Nicholas gave each maid a purse of golden ducats chinking,And then, for better or for worse, they wedded quick as winking.
Once, as he sailed, a storm arose; wild waves the ship surrounded;The sailors wept and tore their clothes, and shrieked "We'll all bedrownded!"St. Nicholas never turned a hair; serenely shone his halo;He simply said a little prayer, and all the billows lay low.
The wicked keeper of an inn had three small urchins taken,And cut them up in a pickle-bin, and salted them for bacon.St. Nicholas came and picked them out, and put their limbs together,--They lived, they leaped, they gave a shout, "St. Nicholas forever!"
And thus it came to pass, you know, that maids without a nickel,And sailor-lads when tempest blow, and children in a pickle,And every man that's fatherly, and every kindly matron,In choosing saints would all agree to call St. Nicholas patron.
He comes again at Christmas-time and stirs us up to giving;He rings the merry bells that chime good-will to all the living;He blesses every friendly deed and every free donation;He sows the secret, golden seed of love through all creation.
Our fathers drank to Santa Claus, the sixth of each December,And still we keep his feast because his virtues we remember.Among the saintly ranks he stood, with smiling human features,And said, "Be good! But not too good to love your fellow-creatures!"
Words in this poem
- hegira n.
- The flight of Mohammed from Mecca, September 13, A. D. 622 (subsequently established as the first year of the Moslem era); hence, any flight or exodus regarded as like that of Mohammed. [Ar. hijrah flight.]
- wedded a.
- Joined in wedlock; married.
- tore n.
- The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring. Mortimer. [Probably from the root of tear; cf. W. tór a break, cut, tóri to break, cut.]
- serenely adv.
- In a serene manner; clearly.
- fatherly a.
- Like a father in affection and care; paternal; tender; protecting; careful.
- chime n.
- The harmonious sound of bells, or of musical instruments. [OE. chimbe, prop., cymbal, OF. cymbe, cymble, in a dialectic form, chymble, F. cymbale, L. cymbalum, fr. Gr. Cymbal.]
- donation n.
- The act of giving or bestowing; a grant. [L. donatio; cf. F. donation.]
- drank n.
- Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [Cf. 3d Drake.]
- saintly a.
- Like a saint; becoming a holy person.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
For the St. Nicholas Society of New York is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Henry Van Dyke, Project Gutenberg ebook #16229; 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 Van Dyke, For the St. Nicholas Society of New York, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/for-the-st-nicholas-society-of-new-york.html, id L22999.
Form and metre
For the St. Nicholas Society of New York is 33 lines in 8 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 4 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic octameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in iambic octameter.
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 --AA hegira · myra · nomenclatureA · natureA
- 2 --AA theologian · trojan · troubleA · doubleA
- 3 AABB marriedA · tarriedA · chinkingB · winkingB
- 5 AA-- takenA · baconA · together · forever
- 6 AABB nickelA · pickleA · matronB · patronB
- 7 AABB givingA · livingA · donationB · creationB
- 8 AABB decemberA · rememberA · featuresB · creaturesB
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 octameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Among the earliest saints of old, before the first Hegira, | 16 | ···/˘˘·······˘/˘ |
| I find the one whose name we hold, St. Nicholas of Myra: | 15 | ·········/˘˘·/˘ |
| The best-beloved name, I guess, in sacred nomenclature,-- | 15 | ··˘/˘····/˘/˘·˘ |
| The patron-saint of helpfulness, and friendship, and good-nature. | 15 | ·/˘······/˘··/˘ |
| A bishop and a preacher too, a famous theologian, | 16 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| He stood against the Arian crew and fought them like a Trojan: | 16 | ·····/˘˘······/˘ |
| But when a poor man told his need and begged an alms in trouble, | 15 | ·············/˘ |
| He never asked about his creed, but quickly gave him double. | 15 | ·/˘······/˘··/˘ |
| Three pretty maidens, so they say, were longing to be married; | 15 | ·/˘/˘····/˘··/˘ |
| But they were paupers, lack-a-day, and so the suitors tarried. | 14 | ···/˘······/˘· |
| St. Nicholas gave each maid a purse of golden ducats chinking, | 16 | ·/˘˘······/˘··/˘ |
| And then, for better or for worse, they wedded quick as winking. | 15 | ···/˘····/˘··/˘ |
| Once, as he sailed, a storm arose; wild waves the ship surrounded; | 15 | ······˘/····˘/˘ |
| The sailors wept and tore their clothes, and shrieked "We'll all be | 14 | ·/˘·······˘··· |
| drownded!" | 2 | ·· |
| St. Nicholas never turned a hair; serenely shone his halo; | 16 | ·/˘˘/···˘/˘˘··/˘ |
| He simply said a little prayer, and all the billows lay low. | 15 | ·/˘··/˘····/˘·· |
| The wicked keeper of an inn had three small urchins taken, | 15 | ·/˘/˘······/˘/˘ |
| And cut them up in a pickle-bin, and salted them for bacon. | 16 | ······/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| St. Nicholas came and picked them out, and put their limbs together,-- | 16 | ·/˘˘·········˘/˘ |
| They lived, they leaped, they gave a shout, "St. Nicholas forever!" | 15 | ·········/˘˘˘/˘ |
| And thus it came to pass, you know, that maids without a nickel, | 15 | ·············/˘ |
| And sailor-lads when tempest blow, and children in a pickle, | 15 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| And every man that's fatherly, and every kindly matron, | 16 | ·/˘··/˘˘·/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| In choosing saints would all agree to call St. Nicholas patron. | 16 | ·/˘···˘/···/˘˘/˘ |
| He comes again at Christmas-time and stirs us up to giving; | 15 | ··˘/·/˘······/˘ |
| He rings the merry bells that chime good-will to all the living; | 15 | ···/˘········/˘ |
| He blesses every friendly deed and every free donation; | 16 | ·/˘/˘/˘··/˘˘·˘/˘ |
| He sows the secret, golden seed of love through all creation. | 15 | ···/˘/˘·····˘/˘ |
| Our fathers drank to Santa Claus, the sixth of each December, | 16 | /˘/˘··/˘·····˘/˘ |
| And still we keep his feast because his virtues we remember. | 15 | ·········/˘·˘/˘ |
| Among the saintly ranks he stood, with smiling human features, | 15 | ···/˘····/˘/˘/˘ |
| And said, "Be good! But not too good to love your fellow-creatures!" | 15 | ···········/˘/˘ |
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