Daniel Neall I
FRIEND of the Slave, and yet the friend of all;Lover of peace, yet ever foremost whenThe need of battling Freedom called for menTo plant the banner on the outer wall;Gentle and kindly, ever at distressMelted to more than woman's tenderness,Yet firm and steadfast, at his duty's postFronting the violence of a maddened host,Like some gray rock from which the waves aretossed!Knowing his deeds of love, men questioned notThe faith of one whose walk and word wereright;Who tranquilly in Life's great task-field wrought,And, side by side with evil, scarcely caughtA stain upon his pilgrim garb of whitePrompt to redress another's wrong, his ownLeaving to Time and Truth and Penitence alone.
Words in this poem
- tranquilly adv.
- In a tranquil manner; calmly.
- garb n.
- External appearance, as expressive of the feelings or character; looks; fashion or manner, as of speech. [OF. garbe looks, countenance, grace, ornament, fr. OHG. garawi, garwi, ornament, dress. akin to E. gear. See Gear, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Daniel Neall I 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, Daniel Neall I, 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/daniel-neall-i.html, id L24874.
Form and metre
Daniel Neall I is 18 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 ABBACCDDE-FEG-FGHH allA · whenB · menB · wallA · distressC · tendernessC · postD · hostD · areE · tossed · notF · wereE · rightG · wrought · caughtF · whiteG · ownH · aloneH
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 |
|---|---|---|
| FRIEND of the Slave, and yet the friend of all; | 10 | ·········· |
| Lover of peace, yet ever foremost when | 10 | /˘···/˘/·· |
| The need of battling Freedom called for men | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| To plant the banner on the outer wall; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Gentle and kindly, ever at distress | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Melted to more than woman's tenderness, | 10 | /˘···/˘/˘˘ |
| Yet firm and steadfast, at his duty's post | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Fronting the violence of a maddened host, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Like some gray rock from which the waves are | 9 | ········· |
| tossed! | 1 | · |
| Knowing his deeds of love, men questioned not | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| The faith of one whose walk and word were | 9 | ········· |
| right; | 1 | · |
| Who tranquilly in Life's great task-field wrought, | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| And, side by side with evil, scarcely caught | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| A stain upon his pilgrim garb of white | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Prompt to redress another's wrong, his own | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Leaving to Time and Truth and Penitence alone. | 12 | /˘·····/˘˘˘/ |
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.