The Lost Statesman
As they who, tossing midst the storm at night,While turning shoreward, where a beacon shone,Meet the walled blackness of the heaven alone,So, on the turbulent waves of party tossed,In gloom and tempest, men have seen thy lightQuenched in the darkness. At thy hour of noon,While life was pleasant to thy undimmed sight,And, day by day, within thy spirit grewA holier hope than young Ambition knew,As through thy rural quiet, not in vain,Pierced the sharp thrill of Freedom's cry of pain,Man of the millions, thou art lost too soonPortents at which the bravest stand aghast,--The birth-throes of a Future, strange and vast,Alarm the land; yet thou, so wise and strong,Suddenly summoned to the burial bed,Lapped in its slumbers deep and ever long,Hear'st not the tumult surging overhead.Who now shall rally Freedom's scattering host?Who wear the mantle of the leader lost?Who stay the march of slavery? He whose voiceHath called thee from thy task-field shall not lackYet bolder champions, to beat bravely backThe wrong which, through his poor ones, reaches Him:Yet firmer hands shall Freedom's torchlights trim,And wave them high across the abysmal black,Till bound, dumb millions there shall see them and rejoice.
Words in this poem
- shoreward adv.
- Toward the shore.
- 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.]
- 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,]
- rally v. t.
- To collect, and reduce to order, as troops dispersed or thrown into confusion; to gather again; to reunite. [OF. ralier, F. rallier, fr. L. pref. re- + ad + ligare to bind. See Ra-, and 1st Ally.]
- bravely adv.
- In a brave manner; courageously; gallantly; valiantly; splendidly; nobly.
- abysmal a.
- Pertaining to, or resembling, an abyss; bottomless; unending; profound.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Lost Statesman 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 Lost Statesman, 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-lost-statesman.html, id L24880.
Form and metre
The Lost Statesman is 27 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 ABBCADAEEFFDGGHIHI-CJKKLLKJ nightA · shoneB · aloneB · tossedC · lightA · noonD · sightA · grewE · knewE · vainF · painF · soonD · aghastG · vastG · strongH · bedI · longH · overheadI · host · lostC · voiceJ · lackK · backK · himL · trimL · blackK · rejoiceJ
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 |
|---|---|---|
| As they who, tossing midst the storm at night, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| While turning shoreward, where a beacon shone, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Meet the walled blackness of the heaven alone, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘/ |
| So, on the turbulent waves of party tossed, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| In gloom and tempest, men have seen thy light | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Quenched in the darkness. At thy hour of noon, | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| While life was pleasant to thy undimmed sight, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And, day by day, within thy spirit grew | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| A holier hope than young Ambition knew, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| As through thy rural quiet, not in vain, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Pierced the sharp thrill of Freedom's cry of pain, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Man of the millions, thou art lost too soon | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Portents at which the bravest stand aghast,-- | 10 | /····/˘·˘/ |
| The birth-throes of a Future, strange and vast, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Alarm the land; yet thou, so wise and strong, | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Suddenly summoned to the burial bed, | 10 | /˘/˘··/˘˘· |
| Lapped in its slumbers deep and ever long, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Hear'st not the tumult surging overhead. | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘/ |
| Who now shall rally Freedom's scattering host? | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Who wear the mantle of the leader lost? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Who stay the march of slavery? He whose voice | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Hath called thee from thy task-field shall not lack | 10 | ·········· |
| Yet bolder champions, to beat bravely back | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| The wrong which, through his poor ones, reaches Him: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Yet firmer hands shall Freedom's torchlights trim, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And wave them high across the abysmal black, | 11 | ····˘/·˘/˘· |
| Till bound, dumb millions there shall see them and rejoice. | 12 | ···/˘·····˘/ |
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.