Hymn for the Celebration of Emancipation at Newburyport
NOT unto us who did but seekThe word that burned within to speak,Not unto us this day belongThe triumph and exultant song.
Upon us fell in early youthThe burden of unwelcome truth,And left us, weak and frail and few,The censor's painful work to do.
Thenceforth our life a fight became,The air we breathed was hot with blame;For not with gauged and softened toneWe made the bondman's cause our own.
We bore, as Freedom's hope forlorn,The private hate, the public scorn;Yet held through all the paths we trodOur faith in man and trust in God.
We prayed and hoped; but still, with awe,The coming of the sword we saw;We heard the nearing steps of doom,We saw the shade of things to come.
In grief which they alone can feelWho from a mother's wrong appeal,With blended lines of fear and hopeWe cast our country's horoscope.
For still within her house of lifeWe marked the lurid sign of strife,And, poisoning and imbittering all,We saw the star of Wormwood fall.
Deep as our love for her becameOur hate of all that wrought her shame,And if, thereby, with tongue and penWe erred,--we were but mortal men.
We hoped for peace; our eyes surveyThe blood-red dawn of Freedom's dayWe prayed for love to loose the chain;'T is shorn by battle's axe in twain!
Nor skill nor strength nor zeal of oursHas mined and heaved the hostile towers;Not by our hands is turned the keyThat sets the sighing captives free.
A redder sea than Egypt's waveIs piled and parted for the slave;A darker cloud moves on in light;A fiercer fire is guide by night.
The praise, O Lord! is Thine alone,In Thy own way Thy work is done!Our poor gifts at Thy feet we cast,To whom be glory, first and last!
Words in this poem
- exultant a.
- Inclined to exult; characterized by, or expressing, exultation; rejoicing triumphantly. [L. exsultans, exsultantis, p. pr. of exsultare. See Exult.]
- thenceforth adv.
- From that time; thereafter.
- gauged p. a.
- Tested or measured by, or conformed to, a gauge. Gauged brick, brick molded, rubbed, or cut to an exact size and shape, for arches or ornamental work.
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- lurid a.
- Pale yellow; ghastly pale; wan; gloomy; dismal. [L. luridus.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- piled a.
- Having a pile or point; pointed. [From 2d Pile.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Hymn for the Celebration of Emancipation at Newburyport 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 for the Celebration of Emancipation at Newburyport, 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-for-the-celebration-of-emancipation-at-newburyport.html, id L24926.
Form and metre
Hymn for the Celebration of Emancipation at Newburyport is 48 lines in 12 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 10 of its 12 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%).
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 AABB seekA · speakA · belongB · songB
- 2 AABB youthA · truthA · fewB · doB
- 3 AABB becameA · blameA · toneB · ownB
- 4 AABB forlornA · scornA · trodB · godB
- 5 AA-- aweA · sawA · doom · come
- 6 AABB feelA · appealA · hopeB · horoscopeB
- 7 AABB lifeA · strifeA · allB · fallB
- 8 AABB becameA · shameA · penB · menB
- 9 AABB surveyA · dayA · chainB · twainB
- 10 AABB oursA · towersA · keyB · freeB
- 11 AABB waveA · slaveA · lightB · nightB
- 12 --AA alone · done · castA · lastA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| NOT unto us who did but seek | 8 | ········ |
| The word that burned within to speak, | 8 | ········ |
| Not unto us this day belong | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The triumph and exultant song. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Upon us fell in early youth | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The burden of unwelcome truth, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| And left us, weak and frail and few, | 8 | ········ |
| The censor's painful work to do. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Thenceforth our life a fight became, | 8 | ·//···˘/ |
| The air we breathed was hot with blame; | 8 | ········ |
| For not with gauged and softened tone | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| We made the bondman's cause our own. | 8 | ······/· |
| We bore, as Freedom's hope forlorn, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The private hate, the public scorn; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Yet held through all the paths we trod | 8 | ········ |
| Our faith in man and trust in God. | 8 | /······· |
| We prayed and hoped; but still, with awe, | 8 | ········ |
| The coming of the sword we saw; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| We heard the nearing steps of doom, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| We saw the shade of things to come. | 8 | ········ |
| In grief which they alone can feel | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Who from a mother's wrong appeal, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| With blended lines of fear and hope | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| We cast our country's horoscope. | 8 | ··//˘/˘· |
| For still within her house of life | 8 | ········ |
| We marked the lurid sign of strife, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And, poisoning and imbittering all, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| We saw the star of Wormwood fall. | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Deep as our love for her became | 8 | ··/···˘/ |
| Our hate of all that wrought her shame, | 8 | /······· |
| And if, thereby, with tongue and pen | 8 | ········ |
| We erred,--we were but mortal men. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| We hoped for peace; our eyes survey | 8 | ····/·/· |
| The blood-red dawn of Freedom's day | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| We prayed for love to loose the chain; | 8 | ········ |
| 'T is shorn by battle's axe in twain! | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Nor skill nor strength nor zeal of ours | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Has mined and heaved the hostile towers; | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Not by our hands is turned the key | 8 | ··/····· |
| That sets the sighing captives free. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| A redder sea than Egypt's wave | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Is piled and parted for the slave; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A darker cloud moves on in light; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A fiercer fire is guide by night. | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| The praise, O Lord! is Thine alone, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| In Thy own way Thy work is done! | 8 | ········ |
| Our poor gifts at Thy feet we cast, | 8 | /······· |
| To whom be glory, first and last! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
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