After Election
THE day's sharp strife is ended now,Our work is done, God knoweth how!As on the thronged, unrestful townThe patience of the moon looks down,I wait to hear, beside the wire,The voices of its tongues of fire.
Slow, doubtful, faint, they seem at firstBe strong, my heart, to know the worst!Hark! there the Alleghanies spoke;That sound from lake and prairie broke,That sunset-gun of triumph rentThe silence of a continent!
That signal from Nebraska sprung,This, from Nevada's mountain tongue!Is that thy answer, strong and free,O loyal heart of Tennessee?What strange, glad voice is that which callsFrom Wagner's grave and Sumter's walls?
From Mississippi's fountain-headA sound as of the bison's tread!There rustled freedom's Charter OakIn that wild burst the Ozarks spoke!Cheer answers cheer from rise to setOf sun. We have a country yet!
The praise, O God, be thine alone!Thou givest not for bread a stone;Thou hast not led us through the nightTo blind us with returning light;Not through the furnace have we passed,To perish at its mouth at last.
O night of peace, thy flight restrain!November's moon, be slow to wane!Shine on the freedman's cabin floor,On brows of prayer a blessing pour;And give, with full assurance blest,The weary heart of Freedom rest!
Words in this poem
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- continent a.
- Serving to restrain or limit; restraining; opposing. [L. continens, -entis, prop., p. pr. of continere to hold together, to repress: cf. F. continent. See Contain.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
After Election 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, After Election, 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/after-election.html, id L24968.
Form and metre
After Election is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABBCC. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
See other poems in iambic 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 AABBCC nowA · howA · townB · downB · wireC · fireC
- 2 AABBCC firstA · worstA · spokeB · brokeB · rentC · continentC
- 3 AABBCC sprungA · tongueA · freeB · tennesseeB · callsC · wallsC
- 4 AABBCC headA · treadA · oakB · spokeB · setC · yetC
- 5 AABBCC aloneA · stoneA · nightB · lightB · passedC · lastC
- 6 AABBCC restrainA · waneA · floorB · pourB · blestC · restC
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| THE day's sharp strife is ended now, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Our work is done, God knoweth how! | 8 | /····/˘· |
| As on the thronged, unrestful town | 8 | ········ |
| The patience of the moon looks down, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I wait to hear, beside the wire, | 9 | ····˘/·/˘ |
| The voices of its tongues of fire. | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Slow, doubtful, faint, they seem at first | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Be strong, my heart, to know the worst! | 8 | ········ |
| Hark! there the Alleghanies spoke; | 8 | ···/˘·˘· |
| That sound from lake and prairie broke, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That sunset-gun of triumph rent | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| The silence of a continent! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| That signal from Nebraska sprung, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| This, from Nevada's mountain tongue! | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Is that thy answer, strong and free, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| O loyal heart of Tennessee? | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| What strange, glad voice is that which calls | 8 | ········ |
| From Wagner's grave and Sumter's walls? | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| From Mississippi's fountain-head | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| A sound as of the bison's tread! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| There rustled freedom's Charter Oak | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| In that wild burst the Ozarks spoke! | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Cheer answers cheer from rise to set | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Of sun. We have a country yet! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The praise, O God, be thine alone! | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Thou givest not for bread a stone; | 8 | ········ |
| Thou hast not led us through the night | 8 | ········ |
| To blind us with returning light; | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Not through the furnace have we passed, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To perish at its mouth at last. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| O night of peace, thy flight restrain! | 8 | ······˘/ |
| November's moon, be slow to wane! | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Shine on the freedman's cabin floor, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| On brows of prayer a blessing pour; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And give, with full assurance blest, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| The weary heart of Freedom rest! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
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