Hymn
Written for the meeting of the Anti-Slavery Society, at Chatham StreetChapel, New York, held on the 4th of the seventh month, 1834.
O THOU, whose presence went beforeOur fathers in their weary way,As with Thy chosen moved of yoreThe fire by night, the cloud by day!
When from each temple of the free,A nation's song ascends to Heaven,Most Holy Father! unto TheeMay not our humble prayer be given?
Thy children all, though hue and formAre varied in Thine own good will,With Thy own holy breathings warm,And fashioned in Thine image still.
We thank Thee, Father! hill and plainAround us wave their fruits once more,And clustered vine, and blossomed grain,Are bending round each cottage door.
And peace is here; and hope and loveAre round us as a mantle thrown,And unto Thee, supreme above,The knee of prayer is bowed alone.
But oh, for those this day can bring,As unto us, no joyful thrill;For those who, under Freedom's wing,Are bound in Slavery's fetters still:
For those to whom Thy written wordOf light and love is never given;For those whose ears have never heardThe promise and the hope of heaven!
For broken heart, and clouded mind,Whereon no human mercies fall;Oh, be Thy gracious love inclined,Who, as a Father, pitiest all!
And grant, O Father! that the timeOf Earth's deliverance may be near,When every land and tongue and climeThe message of Thy love shall hear;
When, smitten as with fire from heaven,The captive's chain shall sink in dust,And to his fettered soul be givenThe glorious freedom of the just,
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
- whereon adv.
- On which; -- used relatively; as, the earth whereon we live.
- clime n.
- A climate; a tract or region of the earth. See Climate. [L. clima. See Climate.]
- 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,]
- fettered a.
- Seeming as if fettered, as the feet pf certain animals which bend backward, and appear unfit for walking.
- 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.]
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.html, id L24844.
Form and metre
Hymn is 42 lines in 11 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 7 of its 11 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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.
- 2 ABAB beforeA · wayB · yoreA · dayB
- 3 A-A- freeA · heaven · theeA · given
- 4 ABAB formA · willB · warmA · stillB
- 5 ABAB plainA · moreB · grainA · doorB
- 6 ABAB loveA · thrownB · aboveA · aloneB
- 7 ABAB bringA · thrillB · wingA · stillB
- 8 A-A- wordA · given · heardA · heaven
- 9 ABAB mindA · fallB · inclinedA · allB
- 10 ABAB timeA · nearB · climeA · hearB
- 11 -A-A heaven · dustA · given · justA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Written for the meeting of the Anti-Slavery Society, at Chatham Street | 19 | /˘··/˘··/˘/˘˘/˘·/˘· |
| Chapel, New York, held on the 4th of the seventh month, 1834. | 12 | /˘·······/˘· |
| O THOU, whose presence went before | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Our fathers in their weary way, | 8 | //˘··/˘· |
| As with Thy chosen moved of yore | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The fire by night, the cloud by day! | 8 | ·/······ |
| When from each temple of the free, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A nation's song ascends to Heaven, | 9 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| Most Holy Father! unto Thee | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| May not our humble prayer be given? | 9 | ··//˘··/˘ |
| Thy children all, though hue and form | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Are varied in Thine own good will, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| With Thy own holy breathings warm, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And fashioned in Thine image still. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| We thank Thee, Father! hill and plain | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Around us wave their fruits once more, | 8 | ········ |
| And clustered vine, and blossomed grain, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Are bending round each cottage door. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And peace is here; and hope and love | 8 | ········ |
| Are round us as a mantle thrown, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And unto Thee, supreme above, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| The knee of prayer is bowed alone. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| But oh, for those this day can bring, | 8 | ········ |
| As unto us, no joyful thrill; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For those who, under Freedom's wing, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Are bound in Slavery's fetters still: | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| For those to whom Thy written word | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of light and love is never given; | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| For those whose ears have never heard | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The promise and the hope of heaven! | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| For broken heart, and clouded mind, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Whereon no human mercies fall; | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Oh, be Thy gracious love inclined, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Who, as a Father, pitiest all! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And grant, O Father! that the time | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of Earth's deliverance may be near, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| When every land and tongue and clime | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The message of Thy love shall hear; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| When, smitten as with fire from heaven, | 9 | ·/˘··/·/˘ |
| The captive's chain shall sink in dust, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And to his fettered soul be given | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| The glorious freedom of the just, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
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