Reliance
Not to the swift, the race:Not to the strong, the fight:Not to the righteous, perfect graceNot to the wise, the light.
But often faltering feetCome surest to the goal;And they who walk in darkness meetThe sunrise of the soul.
A thousand times by nightThe Syrian hosts have died;A thousand times the vanquished rightHath risen, glorified.
The truth the wise men soughtWas spoken by a child;The alabaster box was broughtIn trembling hands defiled.
Not from my torch, the gleam,But from the stars above:Not from my heart, life's crystal stream,But from the depths of Love.
Words in this poem
- faltering a.
- Hesitating; trembling.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Reliance 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, Reliance, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/reliance.html, id L22803.
Form and metre
Reliance is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is short measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other poems in short measure.
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 ABAB raceA · fightB · graceA · lightB
- 2 ABAB feetA · goalB · meetA · soulB
- 3 ABAB nightA · diedB · rightA · glorifiedB
- 4 ABAB soughtA · childB · broughtA · defiledB
- 5 ABAB gleamA · aboveB · streamA · loveB
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 short measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Not to the swift, the race: | 6 | ······ |
| Not to the strong, the fight: | 6 | ······ |
| Not to the righteous, perfect grace | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| Not to the wise, the light. | 6 | ······ |
| But often faltering feet | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Come surest to the goal; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And they who walk in darkness meet | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The sunrise of the soul. | 6 | ·/···· |
| A thousand times by night | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The Syrian hosts have died; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A thousand times the vanquished right | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Hath risen, glorified. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| The truth the wise men sought | 6 | ······ |
| Was spoken by a child; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The alabaster box was brought | 8 | ·/˘·˘··· |
| In trembling hands defiled. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Not from my torch, the gleam, | 6 | ······ |
| But from the stars above: | 6 | ······ |
| Not from my heart, life's crystal stream, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But from the depths of Love. | 6 | ······ |
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.