Hymn
As children of Thy gracious care,We veil the eye, we bend the knee,With broken words of praise and prayer,Father and God, we come to Thee.
For Thou hast heard, O God of Right,The sighing of the island slave;And stretched for him the arm of might,Not shortened that it could not save.The laborer sits beneath his vine,The shackled soul and hand are free;Thanksgiving! for the work is Thine!Praise! for the blessing is of Thee!
And oh, we feel Thy presence here,Thy awful arm in judgment bare!Thine eye bath seen the bondman's tear;Thine ear hath heard the bondman's prayer.Praise! for the pride of man is low,The counsels of the wise are naught,The fountains of repentance flow;What hath our God in mercy wrought?
O HOLY FATHER! just and trueAre all Thy works and words and ways,And unto Thee alone are dueThanksgiving and eternal praise!
As children of Thy gracious care,We veil the eye, we bend the knee,With broken words of praise and prayer,Father and God, we come to Thee.
For Thou hast heard, O God of Right,The sighing of the island slave;And stretched for him the arm of might,Not shortened that it could not save.The laborer sits beneath his vine,The shackled soul and hand are free;Thanksgiving! for the work is Thine!Praise! for the blessing is of Thee!
And oh, we feel Thy presence here,Thy awful arm in judgment bare!Thine eye hath seen the bondman's tear;Thine ear hath heard the bondman's prayer.Praise! for the pride of man is low,The counsels of the wise are naught,The fountains of repentance flow;What hath our God in mercy wrought?
Speed on Thy work, Lord God of HostsAnd when the bondman's chain is riven,And swells from all our guilty coastsThe anthem of the free to Heaven,Oh, not to those whom Thou hast led,As with Thy cloud and fire before,But unto Thee, in fear and dread,Be praise and glory evermore.
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- thanksgiving n.
- The act of rending thanks, or expressing gratitude for favors or mercies.
- anthem v. t.
- To celebrate with anthems.
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Hymn 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, Hymn, 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/hymn-2.html, id L24854.
Form and metre
Hymn is 52 lines in 8 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 4 of its 8 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 ABAB careA · kneeB · prayerA · theeB
- 2 ABABCDCD rightA · slaveB · mightA · saveB · vineC · freeD · thineC · theeD
- 3 ABABCDCD hereA · bareB · tearA · prayerB · lowC · naughtD · flowC · wroughtD
- 4 ABAB trueA · waysB · dueA · praiseB
- 5 ABAB careA · kneeB · prayerA · theeB
- 6 ABABCDCD rightA · slaveB · mightA · saveB · vineC · freeD · thineC · theeD
- 7 ABABCDCD hereA · bareB · tearA · prayerB · lowC · naughtD · flowC · wroughtD
- 8 A-A-BCBC hostsA · riven · coastsA · heaven · ledB · beforeC · dreadB · evermoreC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| As children of Thy gracious care, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| We veil the eye, we bend the knee, | 8 | ········ |
| With broken words of praise and prayer, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Father and God, we come to Thee. | 8 | /˘······ |
| For Thou hast heard, O God of Right, | 8 | ········ |
| The sighing of the island slave; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And stretched for him the arm of might, | 8 | ········ |
| Not shortened that it could not save. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The laborer sits beneath his vine, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The shackled soul and hand are free; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thanksgiving! for the work is Thine! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Praise! for the blessing is of Thee! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And oh, we feel Thy presence here, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thy awful arm in judgment bare! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Thine eye bath seen the bondman's tear; | 8 | ········ |
| Thine ear hath heard the bondman's prayer. | 8 | ········ |
| Praise! for the pride of man is low, | 8 | ········ |
| The counsels of the wise are naught, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The fountains of repentance flow; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| What hath our God in mercy wrought? | 8 | ··/··/˘· |
| O HOLY FATHER! just and true | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Are all Thy works and words and ways, | 8 | ········ |
| And unto Thee alone are due | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Thanksgiving and eternal praise! | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| As children of Thy gracious care, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| We veil the eye, we bend the knee, | 8 | ········ |
| With broken words of praise and prayer, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Father and God, we come to Thee. | 8 | /˘······ |
| For Thou hast heard, O God of Right, | 8 | ········ |
| The sighing of the island slave; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And stretched for him the arm of might, | 8 | ········ |
| Not shortened that it could not save. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The laborer sits beneath his vine, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The shackled soul and hand are free; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thanksgiving! for the work is Thine! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Praise! for the blessing is of Thee! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And oh, we feel Thy presence here, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thy awful arm in judgment bare! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Thine eye hath seen the bondman's tear; | 8 | ········ |
| Thine ear hath heard the bondman's prayer. | 8 | ········ |
| Praise! for the pride of man is low, | 8 | ········ |
| The counsels of the wise are naught, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The fountains of repentance flow; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| What hath our God in mercy wrought? | 8 | ··/··/˘· |
| Speed on Thy work, Lord God of Hosts | 8 | ········ |
| And when the bondman's chain is riven, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And swells from all our guilty coasts | 8 | ····//˘· |
| The anthem of the free to Heaven, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Oh, not to those whom Thou hast led, | 8 | ········ |
| As with Thy cloud and fire before, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| But unto Thee, in fear and dread, | 8 | ········ |
| Be praise and glory evermore. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
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.