The Problem II
And well for Gain if it ungrudging yieldsLabor its just demand; and well for EaseIf in the uses of its own, it seesNo wrong to him who tills its pleasant fieldsAnd spreads the table of its luxuries.The interests of the rich man and the poorAre one and same, inseparable evermore;And, when scant wage or labor fail to giveFood, shelter, raiment, wherewithal to live,Need has its rights, necessity its claim.Yea, even self-wrought misery and shameTest well the charity suffering long and kind.The home-pressed question of the age can findNo answer in the catch-words of the blindLeaders of blind. Solution there is noneSave in the Golden Rule of Christ alone.
Words in this poem
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
- wage v. i.
- To bind one's self; to engage.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Problem II 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 II, 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-ii.html, id L24971.
Form and metre
The Problem II is 16 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 ABBAB--CCDDEEE-- yieldsA · easeB · seesB · fieldsA · luxuriesB · poor · evermore · giveC · liveC · claimD · shameD · kindE · findE · blindE · none · alone
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 |
|---|---|---|
| And well for Gain if it ungrudging yields | 10 | ·········· |
| Labor its just demand; and well for Ease | 10 | /˘··˘/···· |
| If in the uses of its own, it sees | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| No wrong to him who tills its pleasant fields | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And spreads the table of its luxuries. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| The interests of the rich man and the poor | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Are one and same, inseparable evermore; | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| And, when scant wage or labor fail to give | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Food, shelter, raiment, wherewithal to live, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Need has its rights, necessity its claim. | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·· |
| Yea, even self-wrought misery and shame | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| Test well the charity suffering long and kind. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| The home-pressed question of the age can find | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| No answer in the catch-words of the blind | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Leaders of blind. Solution there is none | 10 | /˘··˘/˘··· |
| Save in the Golden Rule of Christ alone. | 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.