To Him That Was Crucified
My spirit to yours dear brother,Do not mind because many sounding your name do not understand you,I do not sound your name, but I understand you,I specify you with joy O my comrade to salute you, and to salutethose who are with you, before and since, and those to come also,That we all labor together transmitting the same charge and succession,We few equals indifferent of lands, indifferent of times,We, enclosers of all continents, all castes, allowers of all theologies,Compassionaters, perceivers, rapport of men,We walk silent among disputes and assertions, but reject not thedisputers nor any thing that is asserted,We hear the bawling and din, we are reach’d at by divisions,jealousies, recriminations on every side,They close peremptorily upon us to surround us, my comrade,Yet we walk unheld, free, the whole earth over, journeying up anddown till we make our ineffaceable mark upon time and the diverse eras,Till we saturate time and eras, that the men and women of races,ages to come, may prove brethren and lovers as we are.
Words in this poem
- rapport n.
- Relation; proportion; conformity; correspondence; accord. [F., fr. rapporter to bring again or back, to refer; pref. re- re- + apporter to bring, L. apporter to bring, L. apportare. Cf. Report.]
- peremptorily adv.
- In a peremptory manner; absolutely; positively.
- ineffaceable a.
- Incapable of being effaced; indelible; ineradicable. [Pref. in- not + effaceable: cf. F. ineffa.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Him That Was Crucified is in the public domain. This text is taken from Leaves of Grass, Project Gutenberg ebook #1322; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Walt Whitman, To Him That Was Crucified, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/to-him-that-was-crucified.html, id L03995.
Form and metre
To Him That Was Crucified is 18 lines in a single stanza. 75% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 15.4 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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--B--B-C-CC---- brother · youA · youA · salute · also · successionB · times · theologies · menB · the · assertedC · divisions · sideC · comradeC · and · eras · races · are
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| My spirit to yours dear brother, | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| Do not mind because many sounding your name do not understand you, | 17 | ·····/˘/˘·····˘/· |
| I do not sound your name, but I understand you, | 12 | ·········˘/· |
| I specify you with joy O my comrade to salute you, and to salute | 19 | ·/˘······/··˘/···˘/ |
| those who are with you, before and since, and those to come also, | 15 | ·············/˘ |
| That we all labor together transmitting the same charge and succession, | 18 | ···/˘˘/˘˘/˘····˘/˘ |
| We few equals indifferent of lands, indifferent of times, | 14 | ··/˘˘/˘··˘/˘·· |
| We, enclosers of all continents, all castes, allowers of all theologies, | 20 | ······/˘˘·······˘/˘˘ |
| Compassionaters, perceivers, rapport of men, | 12 | ········˘/·· |
| We walk silent among disputes and assertions, but reject not the | 17 | ··/˘··˘/·˘/˘·˘/·· |
| disputers nor any thing that is asserted, | 12 | ····/˘···˘/˘ |
| We hear the bawling and din, we are reach’d at by divisions, | 15 | ···/˘·······˘/˘ |
| jealousies, recriminations on every side, | 13 | /˘˘˘·˘/˘·/˘˘· |
| They close peremptorily upon us to surround us, my comrade, | 17 | ··/˘˘˘˘····˘/··/· |
| Yet we walk unheld, free, the whole earth over, journeying up and | 16 | ···········/˘˘·· |
| down till we make our ineffaceable mark upon time and the diverse eras, | 21 | ····/˘···········˘//˘ |
| Till we saturate time and eras, that the men and women of races, | 18 | ··/˘···/˘····/˘·/˘ |
| ages to come, may prove brethren and lovers as we are. | 14 | /˘····/˘·/˘··· |
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.