Expostulation
OUR fellow-countrymen in chains!Slaves, in a land of light and law!Slaves, crouching on the very plainsWhere rolled the storm of Freedom's war!A groan from Eutaw's haunted wood,A. wail where Camden's martyrs fell,By every shrine of patriot blood,From Moultrie's wall and Jasper's well!
By storied hill and hallowed grot,By mossy wood and marshy glen,Whence rang of old the rifle-shot,And hurrying shout of Marion's men!The groan of breaking hearts is there,The falling lash, the fetter's clank!Slaves, slaves are breathing in that airWhich old De Kalb and Sumter drank!
What, ho! our countrymen in chains!The whip on woman's shrinking flesh!Our soil yet reddening with the stainsCaught from her scourging, warm and fresh!What! mothers from their children riven!What! God's own image bought and sold!Americans to market driven,And bartered as the brute for gold!
Speak! shall their agony of prayerCome thrilling to our hearts in vain?To us whose fathers scorned to bearThe paltry menace of a chain;To us, whose boast is loud and longOf holy Liberty and Light;Say, shall these writhing slaves of WrongPlead vainly for their plundered Right?
What! shall we send, with lavish breath,Our sympathies across the wave,Where Manhood, on the field of death,Strikes for his freedom or a grave?Shall prayers go up, and hymns be sungFor Greece, the Moslem fetter spurning,And millions hail with pen and tongueOur light on all her altars burning?
Shall Belgium feel, and gallant France,By Vendome's pile and Schoenbrun's wall,And Poland, gasping on her lance,The impulse of our cheering call?And shall the slave, beneath our eye,Clank o'er our fields his hateful chain?And toss his fettered arms on high,And groan for Freedom's gift, in vain?
Oh, say, shall Prussia's banner beA refuge for the stricken slave?And shall the Russian serf go freeBy Baikal's lake and Neva's wave?And shall the wintry-bosomed DaneRelax the iron hand of pride,And bid his bondmen cast the chainFrom fettered soul and limb aside?
Shall every flap of England's flagProclaim that all around are free,From farthest Ind to each blue cragThat beetles o'er the Western Sea?And shall we scoff at Europe's kings,When Freedom's fire is dim with us,And round our country's altar clingsThe damning shade of Slavery's curse?
Go, let us ask of ConstantineTo loose his grasp on Poland's throat;And beg the lord of Mahmoud's lineTo spare the struggling Suliote;Will not the scorching answer comeFrom turbaned Turk, and scornful Russ"Go, loose your fettered slaves at home,Then turn, and ask the like of us!"
Just God! and shall we calmly rest,The Christian's scorn, the heathen's mirth,Content to live the lingering jestAnd by-word of a mocking Earth?Shall our own glorious land retainThat curse which Europe scorns to bear?Shall our own brethren drag the chainWhich not even Russia's menials wear?
Up, then, in Freedom's manly part,From graybeard eld to fiery youth,And on the nation's naked heartScatter the living coals of Truth!Up! while ye slumber, deeper yetThe shadow of our fame is growing!Up! while ye pause, our sun may setIn blood, around our altars flowing!
Oh! rouse ye, ere the storm comes forth,The gathered wrath of God and man,Like that which wasted Egypt's earth,When hail and fire above it ran.Hear ye no warnings in the air?Feel ye no earthquake underneath?Up, up! why will ye slumber whereThe sleeper only wakes in death?
Rise now for Freedom! not in strifeLike that your sterner fathers saw,The awful waste of human life,The glory and the guilt of war:'But break the chain, the yoke remove,And smite to earth Oppression's rod,With those mild arms of Truth and Love,Made mighty through the living God!
Down let the shrine of Moloch sink,And leave no traces where it stood;Nor longer let its idol drinkHis daily cup of human blood;But rear another altar there,To Truth and Love and Mercy given,And Freedom's gift, and Freedom's prayer,Shall call an answer down from Heaven!
Words in this poem 24
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
- storied a.
- Told in a story. [From Story.]
- clank n.
- A sharp, brief, ringing sound, made by a collision of metallic or other sonorous bodies; -- usually expressing a duller or less resounding sound than clang, and a deeper and stronger sound than clink. [Akin to clink, and of imitative origin; cf. G. klang sound, D. klank. Cf. Clang.]
- drank n.
- Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [Cf. 3d Drake.]
- 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,]
- thrilling a.
- Causing a thrill; causing tremulous excitement; deeply moving; as, a thrilling romance.
- hateful a.
- Manifesting hate or hatred; malignant; malevolent.
- fettered a.
- Seeming as if fettered, as the feet pf certain animals which bend backward, and appear unfit for walking.
- stricken p. p.
- Struck; smitten; wounded; as, the stricken deer.
- wintry a.
- Suitable to winter; resembling winter, or what belongs to winter; brumal; hyemal; cold; stormy; wintery. [AS. wintrig.]
- dane n.
- A native, or a naturalized inhabitant, of Denmark. Great Dane. [LL. Dani: cf. AS. Dene.]
- crag n.
- The neck or throat [A form of craw: cf. D. kraag neck, collar, G. kragen. See Craw.]
- damning a.
- That damns; damnable; as, damning evidence of guilt.
- scorching a.
- Burning; parching or shriveling with heat.
- turbaned a.
- Wearing a turban.
- turk n.
- A member of any of numerous Tartar tribes of Central Asia, etc.; esp., one of the dominant race in Turkey. [Per. Turk; probably of Tartar origin: cf. F. Turc.]
- russ n.
- A Russian, or the Russians.
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- sleeper n.
- One who sleeps; a slumberer; hence, a drone, or lazy person.
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- sterner n.
- A director. Dr. R. Clerke. [See 3d Stern.]
- moloch n.
- The fire god of the Ammonites in Canaan, to whom human sacrifices were offered; Molech. Also applied figuratively. [Heb. molek king.]
- idol n.
- An image or representation of anything. [OE. idole, F. idole, L. idolum, fr. Gr. Wit, and cf. Eidolon.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Expostulation 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, Expostulation, 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/expostulation.html, id L24843.
Form and metre
Expostulation is 112 lines in 14 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 8 of its 14 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 A-A-BCBC chainsA · law · plainsA · war · woodB · fellC · bloodB · wellC
- 2 -A-ABCBC grot · glenA · shot · menA · thereB · clankC · airB · drankC
- 3 ABABCDCD chainsA · fleshB · stainsA · freshB · rivenC · soldD · drivenC · goldD
- 4 ABABCDCD prayerA · vainB · bearA · chainB · longC · lightD · wrongC · rightD
- 5 ABABCDCD breathA · waveB · deathA · graveB · sungC · spurningD · tongueC · burningD
- 6 ABABCDCD franceA · wallB · lanceA · callB · eyeC · chainD · highC · vainD
- 7 ABABCDCD beA · slaveB · freeA · waveB · daneC · prideD · chainC · asideD
- 8 ABABC-C- flagA · freeB · cragA · seaB · kingsC · us · clingsC · curse
- 9 ABABCDCD constantineA · throatB · lineA · sulioteB · comeC · russD · homeC · usD
- 10 ABABCDCD restA · mirthB · jestA · earthB · retainC · bearD · chainC · wearD
- 11 ABABCDCD partA · youthB · heartA · truthB · yetC · growingD · setC · flowingD
- 12 -A-AB-B- forth · manA · earth · ranA · airB · underneath · whereB · death
- 13 A-A-BCBC strifeA · saw · lifeA · war · removeB · rodC · loveB · godC
- 14 ABABC-C- sinkA · stoodB · drinkA · bloodB · thereC · given · prayerC · heaven
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 |
|---|---|---|
| OUR fellow-countrymen in chains! | 8 | //˘/˘˘·· |
| Slaves, in a land of light and law! | 8 | ········ |
| Slaves, crouching on the very plains | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Where rolled the storm of Freedom's war! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A groan from Eutaw's haunted wood, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A. wail where Camden's martyrs fell, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| By every shrine of patriot blood, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| From Moultrie's wall and Jasper's well! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| By storied hill and hallowed grot, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| By mossy wood and marshy glen, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Whence rang of old the rifle-shot, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And hurrying shout of Marion's men! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The groan of breaking hearts is there, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The falling lash, the fetter's clank! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Slaves, slaves are breathing in that air | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Which old De Kalb and Sumter drank! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| What, ho! our countrymen in chains! | 8 | ··//˘˘·· |
| The whip on woman's shrinking flesh! | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Our soil yet reddening with the stains | 8 | /··/˘··· |
| Caught from her scourging, warm and fresh! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| What! mothers from their children riven! | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| What! God's own image bought and sold! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Americans to market driven, | 9 | ˘/˘˘·/˘/˘ |
| And bartered as the brute for gold! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Speak! shall their agony of prayer | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Come thrilling to our hearts in vain? | 8 | ·/˘·/··· |
| To us whose fathers scorned to bear | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The paltry menace of a chain; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| To us, whose boast is loud and long | 8 | ········ |
| Of holy Liberty and Light; | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Say, shall these writhing slaves of Wrong | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Plead vainly for their plundered Right? | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| What! shall we send, with lavish breath, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Our sympathies across the wave, | 8 | //˘˘˘/·· |
| Where Manhood, on the field of death, | 8 | ·/······ |
| Strikes for his freedom or a grave? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Shall prayers go up, and hymns be sung | 8 | ········ |
| For Greece, the Moslem fetter spurning, | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| And millions hail with pen and tongue | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Our light on all her altars burning? | 9 | /····/˘/˘ |
| Shall Belgium feel, and gallant France, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| By Vendome's pile and Schoenbrun's wall, | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| And Poland, gasping on her lance, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The impulse of our cheering call? | 8 | ·/˘·//˘· |
| And shall the slave, beneath our eye, | 8 | ······/· |
| Clank o'er our fields his hateful chain? | 8 | ··/··/˘· |
| And toss his fettered arms on high, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And groan for Freedom's gift, in vain? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Oh, say, shall Prussia's banner be | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| A refuge for the stricken slave? | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And shall the Russian serf go free | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| By Baikal's lake and Neva's wave? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And shall the wintry-bosomed Dane | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Relax the iron hand of pride, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| And bid his bondmen cast the chain | 8 | ········ |
| From fettered soul and limb aside? | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Shall every flap of England's flag | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Proclaim that all around are free, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| From farthest Ind to each blue crag | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That beetles o'er the Western Sea? | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And shall we scoff at Europe's kings, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When Freedom's fire is dim with us, | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| And round our country's altar clings | 8 | ··//˘/˘· |
| The damning shade of Slavery's curse? | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Go, let us ask of Constantine | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To loose his grasp on Poland's throat; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And beg the lord of Mahmoud's line | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To spare the struggling Suliote; | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Will not the scorching answer come | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| From turbaned Turk, and scornful Russ | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| "Go, loose your fettered slaves at home, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Then turn, and ask the like of us!" | 8 | ········ |
| Just God! and shall we calmly rest, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The Christian's scorn, the heathen's mirth, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Content to live the lingering jest | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| And by-word of a mocking Earth? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Shall our own glorious land retain | 8 | ·/·/˘·˘/ |
| That curse which Europe scorns to bear? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Shall our own brethren drag the chain | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| Which not even Russia's menials wear? | 8 | ··//˘/˘· |
| Up, then, in Freedom's manly part, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| From graybeard eld to fiery youth, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And on the nation's naked heart | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Scatter the living coals of Truth! | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Up! while ye slumber, deeper yet | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The shadow of our fame is growing! | 9 | ·/··/··/˘ |
| Up! while ye pause, our sun may set | 8 | ····/··· |
| In blood, around our altars flowing! | 9 | ····//˘/˘ |
| Oh! rouse ye, ere the storm comes forth, | 8 | ········ |
| The gathered wrath of God and man, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Like that which wasted Egypt's earth, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| When hail and fire above it ran. | 8 | ···/···· |
| Hear ye no warnings in the air? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Feel ye no earthquake underneath? | 8 | ···/··˘/ |
| Up, up! why will ye slumber where | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The sleeper only wakes in death? | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Rise now for Freedom! not in strife | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Like that your sterner fathers saw, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The awful waste of human life, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The glory and the guilt of war:' | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But break the chain, the yoke remove, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And smite to earth Oppression's rod, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| With those mild arms of Truth and Love, | 8 | ········ |
| Made mighty through the living God! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Down let the shrine of Moloch sink, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And leave no traces where it stood; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Nor longer let its idol drink | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| His daily cup of human blood; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But rear another altar there, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| To Truth and Love and Mercy given, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| And Freedom's gift, and Freedom's prayer, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Shall call an answer down from Heaven! | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
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