Howard at Atlanta
RIGHT in the track where ShermanPloughed his red furrow,Out of the narrow cabin,Up from the cellar's burrow,Gathered the little black people,With freedom newly dowered,Where, beside their Northern teacher,Stood the soldier, Howard.
He listened and heard the childrenOf the poor and long-enslavedReading the words of Jesus,Singing the songs of David.Behold!--the dumb lips speaking,The blind eyes seeing!Bones of the Prophet's visionWarmed into being!
Transformed he saw them passingTheir new life's portalAlmost it seemed the mortalPut on the immortal.No more with the beasts of burden,No more with stone and clod,But crowned with glory and honorIn the image of God!
There was the human chattelIts manhood taking;There, in each dark, bronze statue,A soul was waking!The man of many battles,With tears his eyelids pressing,Stretched over those dusky foreheadsHis one-armed blessing.
And he said: "Who hears can neverFear for or doubt you;What shall I tell the childrenUp North about you?"Then ran round a whisper, a murmur,Some answer devising:And a little boy stood up: "General,Tell 'em we're rising!"
O black boy of Atlanta!But half was spokenThe slave's chain and the master'sAlike are broken.The one curse of the racesHeld both in tetherThey are rising,--all are rising,The black and white together!
O brave men and fair women!Ill comes of hate and scorningShall the dark faces onlyBe turned to mourning?--Make Time your sole avenger,All-healing, all-redressing;Meet Fate half-way, and make itA joy and blessing!
Words in this poem
- dowered p. a.
- Furnished with, or as with, dower or a marriage portion.
- clod n.
- A lump or mass, especially of earth, turf, or clay. [OE. clodde, latter form of clot. See Clot.]
- 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,]
- atlanta n.
- A genus of small glassy heteropod mollusks found swimming at the surface in mid ocean. See Heteropod.
- tether n.
- A long rope or chain by which an animal is fastened, as to a stake, so that it can range or feed only within certain limits. [Formerly tedder, OE. tedir; akin to LG. tider, tier, Icel. tjo, Dan. töir. *64.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Howard at Atlanta 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, Howard at Atlanta, 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/howard-at-atlanta.html, id L24930.
Form and metre
Howard at Atlanta is 56 lines in 7 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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---- sherman · furrowA · cabin · burrowA · people · dowered · teacher · howard
- 2 -----A-A children · enslaved · jesus · david · speaking · seeingA · vision · beingA
- 3 -AAA-B-B passing · portalA · mortalA · immortalA · burden · clodB · honor · godB
- 4 -A-A-B-B chattel · takingA · statue · wakingA · battles · pressingB · foreheads · blessingB
- 5 -A-A-B-B never · youA · children · youA · murmur · devisingB · general · risingB
- 6 -A-A-B-B atlanta · spokenA · master's · brokenA · races · tetherB · rising · togetherB
- 7 -A-A-B-B women · scorningA · only · mourningA · avenger · redressingB · it · blessingB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| RIGHT in the track where Sherman | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Ploughed his red furrow, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Out of the narrow cabin, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Up from the cellar's burrow, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Gathered the little black people, | 8 | /˘·/˘·/˘ |
| With freedom newly dowered, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Where, beside their Northern teacher, | 8 | ·˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Stood the soldier, Howard. | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| He listened and heard the children | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| Of the poor and long-enslaved | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Reading the words of Jesus, | 7 | /˘···/˘ |
| Singing the songs of David. | 7 | /˘···/˘ |
| Behold!--the dumb lips speaking, | 7 | ˘/···/˘ |
| The blind eyes seeing! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Bones of the Prophet's vision | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Warmed into being! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Transformed he saw them passing | 7 | ˘/···/˘ |
| Their new life's portal | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Almost it seemed the mortal | 7 | /····/˘ |
| Put on the immortal. | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| No more with the beasts of burden, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| No more with stone and clod, | 6 | ······ |
| But crowned with glory and honor | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| In the image of God! | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| There was the human chattel | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Its manhood taking; | 5 | ·/·/˘ |
| There, in each dark, bronze statue, | 7 | ·····/· |
| A soul was waking! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| The man of many battles, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| With tears his eyelids pressing, | 7 | ···/·/˘ |
| Stretched over those dusky foreheads | 8 | ····/˘/· |
| His one-armed blessing. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| And he said: "Who hears can never | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Fear for or doubt you; | 5 | ····· |
| What shall I tell the children | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Up North about you?" | 5 | ····· |
| Then ran round a whisper, a murmur, | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| Some answer devising: | 6 | ·/˘˘/˘ |
| And a little boy stood up: "General, | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| Tell 'em we're rising!" | 5 | ···/˘ |
| O black boy of Atlanta! | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| But half was spoken | 5 | ···/˘ |
| The slave's chain and the master's | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Alike are broken. | 5 | ˘/·/˘ |
| The one curse of the races | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Held both in tether | 5 | ···/˘ |
| They are rising,--all are rising, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| The black and white together! | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| O brave men and fair women! | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Ill comes of hate and scorning | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Shall the dark faces only | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Be turned to mourning?-- | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Make Time your sole avenger, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| All-healing, all-redressing; | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Meet Fate half-way, and make it | 7 | ······· |
| A joy and blessing! | 5 | ···/˘ |
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.