Prelude
Hear a word that Jesus spakeNineteen hundred years ago,Where the crimson lilies blowRound the blue Tiberian lake:There the bread of life He brake,Through the fields of harvest walkingWith His lowly comrades, talkingOf the secret thoughts that feedWeary souls in time of need.Art thou hungry? Come and take;Hear the word that Jesus spake!'Tis the sacrament of labour, bread and wine divinely blest;Friendship's food and sweet refreshment, strength and courage, joy andrest.
But this word the Master saidLong ago and far away,Silent and forgotten layBuried with the silent dead,Where the sands of Egypt spreadSea-like, tawny billows heapingOver ancient cities sleeping,While the River Nile betweenRolls its summer flood of greenRolls its autumn flood of red:There the word the Master said,Written on a frail papyrus, wrinkled, scorched by fire, and torn,Hidden by God's hand was waiting for its resurrection morn.
Now at last the buried wordBy the delving spade is found,Sleeping in the quiet ground.Now the call of life is heard:Rise again, and like a bird,Fly abroad on wings of gladnessThrough the darkness and the sadness,Of the toiling age, and singSweeter than the voice of Spring,Till the hearts of men are stirredBy the music of the word,--Gospel for the heavy-laden, answer to the labourer's cry:"Raise the stone, and thou shall find me; cleave the wood and theream I."
Words in this poem
- sacrament n.
- The oath of allegiance taken by Roman soldiers; hence, a sacred ceremony used to impress an obligation; a solemn oath-taking; an oath. [L. sacramentum an oath, a sacred thing, a mystery, a sacrament, fr. sacrare to declare as sacred, sacer sacred: cf. F. sacrament. See Sacred.]
- papyrus n.
- A tall rushlike plant (Cyperus Papyrus) of the Sedge family, formerly growing in Egypt, and now found in Abyssinia, Syria, Sicily, etc. The stem is triangular and about an inch thick. [L., fr. Gr. Paper.]
- resurrection n.
- A rising again; the resumption of vigor. [F. résurrection, L. resurrectio, fr. resurgere, resurrectum, to rise again; pref. re- re- + surgere to rise. See Source.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
- 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
Prelude 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, Prelude, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/prelude.html, id L22780.
Form and metre
Prelude is 41 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 78% of the lines. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%).
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic 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 ABBAACCDDAAE-E spakeA · agoB · blowB · lakeA · brakeA · walkingC · talkingC · feedD · needD · takeA · spakeA · blestE · and · restE
- 2 ABBAACCDDAAEE saidA · awayB · layB · deadA · spreadA · heapingC · sleepingC · betweenD · greenD · redA · saidA · tornE · mornE
- 3 ABBAACCDDAAE-E wordA · foundB · groundB · heardA · birdA · gladnessC · sadnessC · singD · springD · stirredA · wordA · cryE · there · iE
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Hear a word that Jesus spake | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Nineteen hundred years ago, | 7 | ///˘·˘/ |
| Where the crimson lilies blow | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Round the blue Tiberian lake: | 7 | ······· |
| There the bread of life He brake, | 7 | ······· |
| Through the fields of harvest walking | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| With His lowly comrades, talking | 8 | ··/˘/·/˘ |
| Of the secret thoughts that feed | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Weary souls in time of need. | 7 | /˘····· |
| Art thou hungry? Come and take; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Hear the word that Jesus spake! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| 'Tis the sacrament of labour, bread and wine divinely blest; | 14 | ··/˘·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Friendship's food and sweet refreshment, strength and courage, joy and | 14 | /˘···˘/˘··/˘·· |
| rest. | 1 | · |
| But this word the Master said | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Long ago and far away, | 7 | ·˘/··˘/ |
| Silent and forgotten lay | 7 | /˘·˘/˘· |
| Buried with the silent dead, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Where the sands of Egypt spread | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Sea-like, tawny billows heaping | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Over ancient cities sleeping, | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| While the River Nile between | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Rolls its summer flood of green | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Rolls its autumn flood of red: | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| There the word the Master said, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Written on a frail papyrus, wrinkled, scorched by fire, and torn, | 15 | /˘···˘/˘/˘··/·· |
| Hidden by God's hand was waiting for its resurrection morn. | 15 | /˘····/˘···˘/˘· |
| Now at last the buried word | 7 | ····/˘· |
| By the delving spade is found, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Sleeping in the quiet ground. | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Now the call of life is heard: | 7 | ······· |
| Rise again, and like a bird, | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Fly abroad on wings of gladness | 8 | ·˘/···/˘ |
| Through the darkness and the sadness, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Of the toiling age, and sing | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Sweeter than the voice of Spring, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Till the hearts of men are stirred | 7 | ······· |
| By the music of the word,-- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Gospel for the heavy-laden, answer to the labourer's cry: | 16 | /˘··/˘/˘/˘······ |
| "Raise the stone, and thou shall find me; cleave the wood and there | 13 | ············· |
| am I." | 2 | ·· |
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.