In the Evil Days
THE evil days have come, the poorAre made a prey;Bar up the hospitable door,Put out the fire-lights, point no moreThe wanderer's way.
For Pity now is crime; the chainWhich binds our StatesIs melted at her hearth in twain,Is rusted by her tears' soft rainClose up her gates.
Our Union, like a glacier stirredBy voice below,Or bell of kine, or wing of bird,A beggar's crust, a kindly wordMay overthrow!
Poor, whispering tremblers! yet we boastOur blood and name;Bursting its century-bolted frost,Each gray cairn on the Northman's coastCries out for shame!
Oh for the open firmament,The prairie free,The desert hillside, cavern-rent,The Pawnee's lodge, the Arab's tent,The Bushman's tree!
Than web of Persian loom most rare,Or soft divan,Better the rough rock, bleak and bare,Or hollow tree, which man may shareWith suffering man.
I hear a voice: "Thus saith the Law,Let Love be dumb;Clasping her liberal hands in awe,Let sweet-lipped Charity withdrawFrom hearth and home."
I hear another voice: "The poorAre thine to feed;Turn not the outcast from thy door,Nor give to bonds and wrong once moreWhom God hath freed."
Dear Lord! between that law and TheeNo choice remains;Yet not untrue to man's decree,Though spurning its rewards, is heWho bears its pains.
Not mine Sedition's trumpet-blastAnd threatening word;I read the lesson of the Past,That firm endurance wins at lastMore than the sword.
O clear-eyed Faith, and Patience thouSo calm and strong!Lend strength to weakness, teach us howThe sleepless eyes of God look throughThis night of wrong.
Words in this poem
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- cairn n.
- A rounded or conical heap of stones erected by early inhabitants of the British Isles, apparently as a sepulchral monument. [Gael. carn, gen. cairn, a heap: cf. Ir. & W. carn.]
- firmament n.
- Fixed foundation; established basis. [L. firmamentum, fr. firmare to make firm: cf. F. firmament. See Firm, v. & a.]
- divan n.
- A book; esp., a collection of poems written by one author; as, the divan of Hafiz. [Persia] [Per. diwan a book of many leaves, an account book, a collection of books, a senate, council: cf. Ar. daiwan, F. divan.]
- saith
- 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
- outcast a.
- Cast out; degraded. [Cf. Sw. utkasta to cast out.]
- sleepless a.
- Having no sleep; wakeful.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In the Evil Days 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, In the Evil Days, 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/in-the-evil-days.html, id L24888.
Form and metre
In the Evil Days is 55 lines in 11 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAAB, complete in 6 of its 11 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 -ABBA poor · preyA · doorB · moreB · wayA
- 2 ABAAB chainA · statesB · twainA · rainA · gatesB
- 3 ABAAB stirredA · belowB · birdA · wordA · overthrowB
- 4 AB-AB boastA · nameB · frost · coastA · shameB
- 5 ABAAB firmamentA · freeB · rentA · tentA · treeB
- 6 ABAAB rareA · divanB · bareA · shareA · manB
- 7 ABAAB lawA · dumbB · aweA · withdrawA · homeB
- 8 -ABBA poor · feedA · doorB · moreB · freedA
- 9 ABAAB theeA · remainsB · decreeA · heA · painsB
- 10 A-AA- blastA · word · pastA · lastA · sword
- 11 ABA-B thouA · strongB · howA · through · wrongB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| THE evil days have come, the poor | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Are made a prey; | 4 | ···· |
| Bar up the hospitable door, | 8 | ···//˘˘· |
| Put out the fire-lights, point no more | 8 | ···/···· |
| The wanderer's way. | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| For Pity now is crime; the chain | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Which binds our States | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Is melted at her hearth in twain, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Is rusted by her tears' soft rain | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Close up her gates. | 4 | ···· |
| Our Union, like a glacier stirred | 8 | //˘··/˘· |
| By voice below, | 4 | ···· |
| Or bell of kine, or wing of bird, | 8 | ········ |
| A beggar's crust, a kindly word | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| May overthrow! | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Poor, whispering tremblers! yet we boast | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Our blood and name; | 5 | /˘··· |
| Bursting its century-bolted frost, | 8 | /˘·/˘/˘· |
| Each gray cairn on the Northman's coast | 8 | ········ |
| Cries out for shame! | 4 | ···· |
| Oh for the open firmament, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| The prairie free, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The desert hillside, cavern-rent, | 8 | ·/˘/·/˘· |
| The Pawnee's lodge, the Arab's tent, | 8 | ·//··/˘· |
| The Bushman's tree! | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Than web of Persian loom most rare, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or soft divan, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Better the rough rock, bleak and bare, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Or hollow tree, which man may share | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| With suffering man. | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| I hear a voice: "Thus saith the Law, | 8 | ········ |
| Let Love be dumb; | 4 | ···· |
| Clasping her liberal hands in awe, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Let sweet-lipped Charity withdraw | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| From hearth and home." | 4 | ···· |
| I hear another voice: "The poor | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Are thine to feed; | 4 | ···· |
| Turn not the outcast from thy door, | 8 | ···/···· |
| Nor give to bonds and wrong once more | 8 | ········ |
| Whom God hath freed." | 4 | ···· |
| Dear Lord! between that law and Thee | 8 | ········ |
| No choice remains; | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Yet not untrue to man's decree, | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Though spurning its rewards, is he | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Who bears its pains. | 4 | ···· |
| Not mine Sedition's trumpet-blast | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| And threatening word; | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| I read the lesson of the Past, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That firm endurance wins at last | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| More than the sword. | 4 | ···· |
| O clear-eyed Faith, and Patience thou | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| So calm and strong! | 4 | ···· |
| Lend strength to weakness, teach us how | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The sleepless eyes of God look through | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| This night of wrong. | 4 | ···· |
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.