The Pine-Tree
LIFT again the stately emblem on the Bay State'srusted shield,Give to Northern winds the Pine-Tree on our banner'stattered field.Sons of men who sat in council with their Biblesround the board,Answering England's royal missive with a firm,"Thus saith the Lord!"Rise again for home and freedom! set the battlein array!What the fathers did of old time we their sonsmust do to-day.
Tell us not of banks and tariffs, cease your paltrypedler cries;Shall the good State sink her honor that yourgambling stocks may rise?Would ye barter man for cotton? That yourgains may sum up higher,Must we kiss the feet of Moloch, pass our childrenthrough the fire?Is the dollar only real? God and truth and righta dream?Weighed against your lying ledgers must our manhoodkick the beam?
O my God! for that free spirit, which of old inBoston townSmote the Province House with terror, struck thecrest of Andros down!For another strong-voiced Adams in the city'sstreets to cry,"Up for God and Massachusetts! Set your feeton Mammon's lie!Perish banks and perish traffic, spin your cotton'slatest pound,But in Heaven's name keep your honor, keep theheart o' the Bay State sound!"Where's the man for Massachusetts! Where'sthe voice to speak her free?Where's the hand to light up bonfires from hermountains to the sea?Beats her Pilgrim pulse no longer? Sits she dumbin her despair?Has she none to break the silence? Has she noneto do and dare?O my God! for one right worthy to lift up herrusted shield,And to plant again the Pine-Tree in her banner'stattered field
Words in this poem
- missive a.
- Specially sent; intended or prepared to be sent; as, a letter missive. Ayliffe. [See Missive, n.]
- saith
- 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
- 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,]
- moloch n.
- The fire god of the Ammonites in Canaan, to whom human sacrifices were offered; Molech. Also applied figuratively. [Heb. molek king.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Pine-Tree 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 Pine-Tree, 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-pine-tree.html, id L24867.
Form and metre
The Pine-Tree is 48 lines in 3 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
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 -A-A-B-B-C-C state's · shieldA · banner's · fieldA · bibles · boardB · firm · lordB · battle · arrayC · sons · dayC
- 2 -ABABC-C-D-D paltry · criesA · yourB · riseA · yourB · higherC · children · fireC · right · dreamD · manhood · beamD
- 3 AABA-C-C-DBD-BEB-F-FEG-G inA · townA · theB · downA · city's · cryC · feet · lieC · cotton's · poundD · theB · soundD · where's · freeB · herE · seaB · dumb · despairF · none · dareF · herE · shieldG · banner's · fieldG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| LIFT again the stately emblem on the Bay State's | 12 | ·˘/·/˘/˘···· |
| rusted shield, | 3 | /˘· |
| Give to Northern winds the Pine-Tree on our banner's | 12 | ··/˘·····//˘ |
| tattered field. | 3 | /˘· |
| Sons of men who sat in council with their Bibles | 12 | ······/˘··/˘ |
| round the board, | 3 | ··· |
| Answering England's royal missive with a firm, | 11 | /˘/˘/˘/˘··· |
| "Thus saith the Lord!" | 4 | ···· |
| Rise again for home and freedom! set the battle | 12 | ·˘/···/˘··/˘ |
| in array! | 3 | ·˘/ |
| What the fathers did of old time we their sons | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| must do to-day. | 4 | ···· |
| Tell us not of banks and tariffs, cease your paltry | 12 | ······/˘··/˘ |
| pedler cries; | 3 | ··· |
| Shall the good State sink her honor that your | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| gambling stocks may rise? | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| Would ye barter man for cotton? That your | 10 | ··/˘··/˘·· |
| gains may sum up higher, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Must we kiss the feet of Moloch, pass our children | 12 | ······/˘·//˘ |
| through the fire? | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Is the dollar only real? God and truth and right | 12 | ··/˘/˘······ |
| a dream? | 2 | ·· |
| Weighed against your lying ledgers must our manhood | 12 | ····/˘/˘·//· |
| kick the beam? | 3 | ··· |
| O my God! for that free spirit, which of old in | 11 | ······/···· |
| Boston town | 3 | /˘· |
| Smote the Province House with terror, struck the | 10 | ··/˘··/˘·· |
| crest of Andros down! | 5 | ··/˘· |
| For another strong-voiced Adams in the city's | 12 | ·˘/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| streets to cry, | 3 | ··· |
| "Up for God and Massachusetts! Set your feet | 11 | ·····˘/˘··· |
| on Mammon's lie! | 4 | ···· |
| Perish banks and perish traffic, spin your cotton's | 12 | /˘··/˘/˘··/˘ |
| latest pound, | 3 | /˘· |
| But in Heaven's name keep your honor, keep the | 11 | ··/˘···/˘·· |
| heart o' the Bay State sound!" | 6 | ······ |
| Where's the man for Massachusetts! Where's | 9 | ·····˘/˘· |
| the voice to speak her free? | 6 | ······ |
| Where's the hand to light up bonfires from her | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| mountains to the sea? | 5 | /˘··· |
| Beats her Pilgrim pulse no longer? Sits she dumb | 11 | ··/˘··/˘··· |
| in her despair? | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Has she none to break the silence? Has she none | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| to do and dare? | 4 | ···· |
| O my God! for one right worthy to lift up her | 12 | ······/˘···· |
| rusted shield, | 3 | /˘· |
| And to plant again the Pine-Tree in her banner's | 12 | ···˘/·····/˘ |
| tattered field | 3 | /˘· |
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.