Laus Deo!
IT is done!Clang of bell and roar of gunSend the tidings up and down.How the belfries rock and reel!How the great guns, peal on peal,Fling the joy from town to town!
Ring, O bells!Every stroke exulting tellsOf the burial hour of crime.Loud and long, that all may hear,Ring for every listening earOf Eternity and Time!
Let us kneelGod's own voice is in that peal,And this spot is holy ground.Lord, forgive us! What are we,That our eyes this glory see,That our ears have heard the sound!
For the LordOn the whirlwind is abroad;In the earthquake He has spoken;He has smitten with His thunderThe iron walls asunder,And the gates of brass are broken.
Loud and longLift the old exulting song;Sing with Miriam by the sea,He has cast the mighty down;Horse and rider sink and drown;"He hath triumphed gloriously!"
Did we dare,In our agony of prayer,Ask for more than He has done?When was ever His right handOver any time or landStretched as now beneath the sun?
How they pale,Ancient myth and song and tale,In this wonder of our days,When the cruel rod of warBlossoms white with righteous law,And the wrath of man is praise!
Blotted outAll within and all aboutShall a fresher life begin;Freer breathe the universeAs it rolls its heavy curseOn the dead and buried sin!
It is done!In the circuit of the sunShall the sound thereof go forth.It shall bid the sad rejoice,It shall give the dumb a voice,It shall belt with joy the earth!
Ring and swing,Bells of joy! On morning's wingSend the song of praise abroad!With a sound of broken chainsTell the nations that He reigns,Who alone is Lord and God!
Words in this poem
- clang v. t.
- To strike together so as to produce a ringing metallic sound. [L. clangere; akin to Gr. clank.]
- peal v. i.
- To appeal. Spencer.
- exulting a.
- Rejoicing triumphantly or exceedingly; exultant.
- burial n.
- A grave; a tomb; a place of sepulture. [OE. buriel, buriels, grave, tomb, AS. byrgels, fr. byrgan to bury, and akin to OS. burgisli sepulcher.]
- kneel v. i.
- To bend the knee; to fall or rest on the knees; -- sometimes with down. [OE. knelen, cneolien; akin to D. knielen, Dan. knæle. See Knee.]
- 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,]
- freer n.
- One who frees, or sets free.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Laus Deo! 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, Laus Deo!, 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/laus-deo.html, id L24925.
Form and metre
Laus Deo! is 60 lines in 10 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 5 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 AABCCB doneA · gunA · downB · reelC · pealC · townB
- 2 AABCCB bellsA · tellsA · crimeB · hearC · earC · timeB
- 3 AABCCB kneelA · pealA · groundB · weC · seeC · soundB
- 4 --ABBA lord · abroad · spokenA · thunderB · asunderB · brokenA
- 5 AA-BB- longA · songA · sea · downB · drownB · gloriously
- 6 AABCCB dareA · prayerA · doneB · handC · landC · sunB
- 7 AAB--B paleA · taleA · daysB · war · law · praiseB
- 8 AABCCB outA · aboutA · beginB · universeC · curseC · sinB
- 9 AA-BB- doneA · sunA · forth · rejoiceB · voiceB · earth
- 10 AA-BB- swingA · wingA · abroad · chainsB · reignsB · god
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| IT is done! | 3 | ··· |
| Clang of bell and roar of gun | 7 | ······· |
| Send the tidings up and down. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| How the belfries rock and reel! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| How the great guns, peal on peal, | 7 | ······· |
| Fling the joy from town to town! | 7 | ······· |
| Ring, O bells! | 3 | ··· |
| Every stroke exulting tells | 8 | /˘˘·˘/˘· |
| Of the burial hour of crime. | 8 | ··/˘˘/·· |
| Loud and long, that all may hear, | 7 | ······· |
| Ring for every listening ear | 8 | ··/˘/˘˘· |
| Of Eternity and Time! | 7 | ·˘/˘˘·· |
| Let us kneel | 3 | ··· |
| God's own voice is in that peal, | 7 | ······· |
| And this spot is holy ground. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Lord, forgive us! What are we, | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| That our eyes this glory see, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That our ears have heard the sound! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For the Lord | 3 | ··· |
| On the whirlwind is abroad; | 7 | ··/··˘/ |
| In the earthquake He has spoken; | 8 | ··/···/˘ |
| He has smitten with His thunder | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| The iron walls asunder, | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| And the gates of brass are broken. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Loud and long | 3 | ··· |
| Lift the old exulting song; | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Sing with Miriam by the sea, | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| He has cast the mighty down; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Horse and rider sink and drown; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| "He hath triumphed gloriously!" | 8 | ··/˘/˘˘˘ |
| Did we dare, | 3 | ··· |
| In our agony of prayer, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Ask for more than He has done? | 7 | ······· |
| When was ever His right hand | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Over any time or land | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Stretched as now beneath the sun? | 8 | ·˘······ |
| How they pale, | 3 | ··· |
| Ancient myth and song and tale, | 7 | /˘····· |
| In this wonder of our days, | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| When the cruel rod of war | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Blossoms white with righteous law, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| And the wrath of man is praise! | 7 | ······· |
| Blotted out | 3 | /˘· |
| All within and all about | 7 | ······· |
| Shall a fresher life begin; | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Freer breathe the universe | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| As it rolls its heavy curse | 7 | ····/˘· |
| On the dead and buried sin! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| It is done! | 3 | ··· |
| In the circuit of the sun | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Shall the sound thereof go forth. | 7 | ······· |
| It shall bid the sad rejoice, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| It shall give the dumb a voice, | 7 | ······· |
| It shall belt with joy the earth! | 7 | ······· |
| Ring and swing, | 3 | ··· |
| Bells of joy! On morning's wing | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Send the song of praise abroad! | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| With a sound of broken chains | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Tell the nations that He reigns, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Who alone is Lord and God! | 7 | ·˘/···· |
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