A Word for the Hour
THE firmament breaks up. In black eclipseLight after light goes out. One evil star,Luridly glaring through the smoke of war,As in the dream of the Apocalypse,Drags others down. Let us not weakly weepNor rashly threaten. Give us grace to keepOur faith and patience; wherefore should we leapOn one hand into fratricidal fight,Or, on the other, yield eternal right,Frame lies of law, and good and ill confound?What fear we? Safe on freedom's vantage-groundOur feet are planted: let us there remainIn unrevengeful calm, no means untriedWhich truth can sanction, no just claim denied,The sad spectators of a suicide!They break the links of Union: shall we lightThe fires of hell to weld anew the chainOn that red anvil where each blow is pain?Draw we not even now a freer breath,As from our shoulders falls a load of deathLoathsome as that the Tuscan's victim boreWhen keen with life to a dead horror bound?Why take we up the accursed thing again?Pity, forgive, but urge them back no moreWho, drunk with passion, flaunt disunion's ragWith its vile reptile-blazon. Let us pressThe golden cluster on our brave old flagIn closer union, and, if numbering less,Brighter shall shine the stars which still remain.
Words in this poem
- firmament n.
- Fixed foundation; established basis. [L. firmamentum, fr. firmare to make firm: cf. F. firmament. See Firm, v. & a.]
- glaring a.
- Clear; notorious; open and bold; barefaced; as, a glaring crime.
- apocalypse n.
- The revelation delivered to St. John, in the isle of Patmos, near the close of the first century, forming the last book of the New Testament. [L. apocalypsis, Gr. apocalypse.]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- fratricidal a.
- Of or pertaining to fratricide; of the nature of fratricide.
- 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,]
- freer n.
- One who frees, or sets free.
- flaunt n.
- Anything displayed for show.
- blazon v. t.
- To depict in colors; to display; to exhibit conspicuously; to publish or make public far and wide. [From blazon, n.; confused with 4th blaze: cf. F. blasonner.]
- closer n.
- One who, or that which, closes; specifically, a boot closer. See under Boot.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Word for the Hour is in the public domain. This text is taken from Anti-Slavery Poems and Songs of Labor and Reform, Complete Volume III of The Works of John Greenleaf Whittier, Project Gutenberg ebook #9580; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Greenleaf Whittier, A Word for the Hour, in Anti-Slavery Poems and Songs of Labor and Reform (1865), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9580, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whittier-anti-slavery/a-word-for-the-hour.html, id L24909.
Form and metre
A Word for the Hour is 29 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 A-BACCCDDEEFGGGDFFHHBEFBIJIJF eclipseA · star · warB · apocalypseA · weepC · keepC · leapC · fightD · rightD · confoundE · groundE · remainF · untriedG · deniedG · suicideG · lightD · chainF · painF · breathH · deathH · boreB · boundE · againF · moreB · ragI · pressJ · flagI · lessJ · remainF
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 firmament breaks up. In black eclipse | 10 | ·/˘˘····˘/ |
| Light after light goes out. One evil star, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Luridly glaring through the smoke of war, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| As in the dream of the Apocalypse, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Drags others down. Let us not weakly weep | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Nor rashly threaten. Give us grace to keep | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Our faith and patience; wherefore should we leap | 10 | /··/˘/˘··· |
| On one hand into fratricidal fight, | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Or, on the other, yield eternal right, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Frame lies of law, and good and ill confound? | 10 | ········˘/ |
| What fear we? Safe on freedom's vantage-ground | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Our feet are planted: let us there remain | 10 | /··/˘···˘/ |
| In unrevengeful calm, no means untried | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| Which truth can sanction, no just claim denied, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| The sad spectators of a suicide! | 10 | ··/˘˘··/˘· |
| They break the links of Union: shall we light | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The fires of hell to weld anew the chain | 10 | ·/····˘/·· |
| On that red anvil where each blow is pain? | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Draw we not even now a freer breath, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| As from our shoulders falls a load of death | 10 | ··//˘····· |
| Loathsome as that the Tuscan's victim bore | 10 | /˘···/˘/˘· |
| When keen with life to a dead horror bound? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Why take we up the accursed thing again? | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Pity, forgive, but urge them back no more | 10 | /˘˘/······ |
| Who, drunk with passion, flaunt disunion's rag | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| With its vile reptile-blazon. Let us press | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| The golden cluster on our brave old flag | 10 | ·/˘/˘·/··· |
| In closer union, and, if numbering less, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Brighter shall shine the stars which still remain. | 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.