The Christian Slave
A CHRISTIAN! going, gone!Who bids for God's own image? for his grace,Which that poor victim of the market-placeHath in her suffering won?
My God! can such things be?Hast Thou not said that whatsoe'er is doneUnto Thy weakest and Thy humblest oneIs even done to Thee?
In that sad victim, then,Child of Thy pitying love, I see Thee stand;Once more the jest-word of a mocking band,Bound, sold, and scourged again!
A Christian up for sale!Wet with her blood your whips, o'ertask her frame,Make her life loathsome with your wrong and shame,Her patience shall not fail!
A heathen hand might dealBack on your heads the gathered wrong of years:But her low, broken prayer and nightly tears,Ye neither heed nor feel.
Con well thy lesson o'er,Thou prudent teacher, tell the toiling slaveNo dangerous tale of Him who came to saveThe outcast and the poor.
But wisely shut the rayOf God's free Gospel from her simple heart,And to her darkened mind alone impartOne stern command, Obey!
So shalt thou deftly raiseThe market price of human flesh; and whileOn thee, their pampered guest, the planters smile,Thy church shall praise.
Grave, reverend men shall tellFrom Northern pulpits how thy work was blest,While in that vile South Sodom first and best,Thy poor disciples sell.
Oh, shame! the Moslem thrall,Who, with his master, to the Prophet kneels,While turning to the sacred Kebla feelsHis fetters break and fall.
Cheers for the turbaned BeyOf robber-peopled Tunis! he hath tornThe dark slave-dungeons open, and hath borneTheir inmates into day:
But our poor slave in vainTurns to the Christian shrine his aching eyes;Its rites will only swell his market price,And rivet on his chain.
God of all right! how longShall priestly robbers at Thine altar stand,Lifting in prayer to Thee, the bloody handAnd haughty brow of wrong?
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- pitying a.
- Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word.
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
- 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,]
- nightly a.
- Of or pertaining to the night, or to every night; happening or done by night, or every night; as, nightly shades; he kept nightly vigils.
- outcast a.
- Cast out; degraded. [Cf. Sw. utkasta to cast out.]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- deftly adv.
- Aptly; fitly; dexterously; neatly. [Cf. Defly.]
- pampered a.
- Fed luxuriously; indulged to the full; hence, luxuriant.
- reverend a.
- Worthy of reverence; entitled to respect mingled with fear and affection; venerable. [F. révérend, L. reverendus, fr. revereri. See Revere.]
- turbaned a.
- Wearing a turban.
- aching a.
- That aches; continuously painful. See Ache.
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Christian Slave 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, The Christian Slave, 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/the-christian-slave.html, id L24861.
Form and metre
The Christian Slave is 52 lines in 13 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBA, complete in 10 of its 13 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 -AA- gone · graceA · placeA · won
- 2 ABBA beA · doneB · oneB · theeA
- 3 ABBA thenA · standB · bandB · againA
- 4 ABBA saleA · frameB · shameB · failA
- 5 ABBA dealA · yearsB · tearsB · feelA
- 6 -AA- o'er · slaveA · saveA · poor
- 7 ABBA rayA · heartB · impartB · obeyA
- 8 ABBA raiseA · whileB · smileB · praiseA
- 9 ABBA tellA · blestB · bestB · sellA
- 10 ABBA thrallA · kneelsB · feelsB · fallA
- 11 ABBA beyA · tornB · borneB · dayA
- 12 A--A vainA · eyes · price · chainA
- 13 ABBA longA · standB · handB · wrongA
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A CHRISTIAN! going, gone! | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Who bids for God's own image? for his grace, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Which that poor victim of the market-place | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Hath in her suffering won? | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| My God! can such things be? | 6 | ······ |
| Hast Thou not said that whatsoe'er is done | 9 | ········· |
| Unto Thy weakest and Thy humblest one | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Is even done to Thee? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| In that sad victim, then, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Child of Thy pitying love, I see Thee stand; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Once more the jest-word of a mocking band, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Bound, sold, and scourged again! | 6 | ····˘/ |
| A Christian up for sale! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Wet with her blood your whips, o'ertask her frame, | 10 | ·········· |
| Make her life loathsome with your wrong and shame, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Her patience shall not fail! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A heathen hand might deal | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Back on your heads the gathered wrong of years: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But her low, broken prayer and nightly tears, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Ye neither heed nor feel. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Con well thy lesson o'er, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Thou prudent teacher, tell the toiling slave | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| No dangerous tale of Him who came to save | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The outcast and the poor. | 6 | ·/···· |
| But wisely shut the ray | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Of God's free Gospel from her simple heart, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And to her darkened mind alone impart | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘/ |
| One stern command, Obey! | 6 | ··˘/˘/ |
| So shalt thou deftly raise | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The market price of human flesh; and while | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| On thee, their pampered guest, the planters smile, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Thy church shall praise. | 4 | ···· |
| Grave, reverend men shall tell | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| From Northern pulpits how thy work was blest, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| While in that vile South Sodom first and best, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Thy poor disciples sell. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Oh, shame! the Moslem thrall, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Who, with his master, to the Prophet kneels, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| While turning to the sacred Kebla feels | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| His fetters break and fall. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Cheers for the turbaned Bey | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Of robber-peopled Tunis! he hath torn | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| The dark slave-dungeons open, and hath borne | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Their inmates into day: | 6 | ·/···· |
| But our poor slave in vain | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Turns to the Christian shrine his aching eyes; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Its rites will only swell his market price, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And rivet on his chain. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| God of all right! how long | 6 | ······ |
| Shall priestly robbers at Thine altar stand, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Lifting in prayer to Thee, the bloody hand | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| And haughty brow of wrong? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
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.