The Problem I
NOT without envy Wealth at times must lookOn their brown strength who wield the reaping-hookAnd scythe, or at the forge-fire shape the ploughOr the steel harness of the steeds of steam;All who, by skill and patience, anyhowMake service noble, and the earth redeemFrom savageness. By kingly accoladeThan theirs was never worthier knighthood made.Well for them, if, while demagogues their vainAnd evil counsels proffer, they maintainTheir honest manhood unseduced, and wageNo war with Labor's right to Labor's gainOf sweet home-comfort, rest of hand and brain,And softer pillow for the head of Age.
Words in this poem
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- wield v. t.
- To govern; to rule; to keep, or have in charge; also, to possess. [OE. welden to govern, to have power over, to possess, AS. geweldan, gewyldan, from wealdan; akin to OS. waldan, OFries. walda, G. walten, OHG. waltan, Icel. val]
- anyhow adv.
- In any way or manner whatever; at any rate; in any event.
- accolade n.
- A ceremony formerly used in conferring knighthood, consisting am embrace, and a slight blow on the shoulders with the flat blade of a sword. [F. accolade, It. accolata, fr. accollare to embrace; L. ad + collum neck.]
- wage v. i.
- To bind one's self; to engage.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Problem I 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 Problem I, 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-problem-i.html, id L24970.
Form and metre
The Problem I is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes AABCBCDDEEFEEF. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 AABCBCDDEEFEEF lookA · hookA · ploughB · steamC · anyhowB · redeemC · accoladeD · madeD · vainE · maintainE · wageF · gainE · brainE · ageF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| NOT without envy Wealth at times must look | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| On their brown strength who wield the reaping-hook | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And scythe, or at the forge-fire shape the plough | 10 | ······/··· |
| Or the steel harness of the steeds of steam; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| All who, by skill and patience, anyhow | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Make service noble, and the earth redeem | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| From savageness. By kingly accolade | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘/˘· |
| Than theirs was never worthier knighthood made. | 10 | ···//˘˘/·· |
| Well for them, if, while demagogues their vain | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And evil counsels proffer, they maintain | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Their honest manhood unseduced, and wage | 10 | ·/˘/······ |
| No war with Labor's right to Labor's gain | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Of sweet home-comfort, rest of hand and brain, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And softer pillow for the head of Age. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
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.