Sung at Christmas by the Scholars of St. Helena's Island, S. C
OH, none in all the world beforeWere ever glad as we!We're free on Carolina's shore,We're all at home and free.
Thou Friend and Helper of the poor,Who suffered for our sake,To open every prison door,And every yoke to break!
Bend low Thy pitying face and mild,And help us sing and pray;The hand that blessed the little child,Upon our foreheads lay.
We hear no more the driver's horn,No more the whip we fear,This holy day that saw Thee bornWas never half so dear.
The very oaks are greener clad,The waters brighter smile;Oh, never shone a day so gladOn sweet St. Helen's Isle.
We praise Thee in our songs to-day,To Thee in prayer we call,Make swift the feet and straight the wayOf freedom unto all.
Come once again, O blessed Lord!Come walking on the sea!And let the mainlands hear the wordThat sets the islands free!
Words in this poem
- pitying a.
- Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word.
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sung at Christmas by the Scholars of St. Helena's Island, S. C 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, Sung at Christmas by the Scholars of St. Helena's Island, S. C, 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/sung-at-christmas-by-the-scholars-of-st-helena-s-island-s-c.html, id L24919.
Form and metre
Sung at Christmas by the Scholars of St. Helena's Island, S. C is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
See other poems in common measure.
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 beforeA · weB · shoreA · freeB
- 2 -A-A poor · sakeA · door · breakA
- 3 ABAB mildA · prayB · childA · layB
- 4 ABAB hornA · fearB · bornA · dearB
- 5 ABAB cladA · smileB · gladA · isleB
- 6 ABAB dayA · callB · wayA · allB
- 7 -A-A lord · seaA · word · freeA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| OH, none in all the world before | 8 | ········ |
| Were ever glad as we! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| We're free on Carolina's shore, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| We're all at home and free. | 6 | ······ |
| Thou Friend and Helper of the poor, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Who suffered for our sake, | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| To open every prison door, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| And every yoke to break! | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Bend low Thy pitying face and mild, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And help us sing and pray; | 6 | ······ |
| The hand that blessed the little child, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Upon our foreheads lay. | 7 | ··/˘/·· |
| We hear no more the driver's horn, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| No more the whip we fear, | 6 | ······ |
| This holy day that saw Thee born | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Was never half so dear. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The very oaks are greener clad, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The waters brighter smile; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Oh, never shone a day so glad | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| On sweet St. Helen's Isle. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| We praise Thee in our songs to-day, | 8 | ····/··· |
| To Thee in prayer we call, | 6 | ······ |
| Make swift the feet and straight the way | 8 | ········ |
| Of freedom unto all. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Come once again, O blessed Lord! | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| Come walking on the sea! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And let the mainlands hear the word | 8 | ···/···· |
| That sets the islands free! | 6 | ···/˘· |
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