Laurel · John Greenleaf Whittier · Anti-Slavery Poems and Songs of Labor and Reform

The Proclamation

John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892) · 1865

iambic pentameter · AABB · 35 lines · from Anti-Slavery Poems and Songs of Labor and Reform

President Lincoln's proclamation of emancipation was issuedJanuary 1, 1863.

SAINT PATRICK, slave to Milcho of the herdsOf Ballymena, wakened with these words"Arise, and fleeOut from the land of bondage, and be free!"

Glad as a soul in pain, who hears from heavenThe angels singing of his sins forgiven,And, wondering, seesHis prison opening to their golden keys,

He rose a man who laid him down a slave,Shook from his locks the ashes of the grave,And outward trodInto the glorious liberty of God.

He cast the symbols of his shame away;And, passing where the sleeping Milcho lay,Though back and limbSmarted with wrong, he prayed, "God pardonhim!"

So went he forth; but in God's time he cameTo light on Uilline's hills a holy flame;And, dying, gaveThe land a saint that lost him as a slave.

O dark, sad millions, patiently and dumbWaiting for God, your hour at last has come,And freedom's songBreaks the long silence of your night of wrong!

Arise and flee! shake off the vile restraintOf ages; but, like Ballymena's saint,The oppressor spare,Heap only on his head the coals of prayer.

Go forth, like him! like him return again,To bless the land whereon in bitter painYe toiled at first,And heal with freedom what your slavery cursed.

Words in this poem

january n.: The first month of the year, containing thirty-one days. [L. Januarius, fr. Janus an old Latin deity, the god of the sun and the year, to whom the month of January was sacred; cf. janua a door, Skr. ya to go.]
shook v. t.: To pack, as staves, in a shook.
glorious a.: Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
went n.: Course; way; path; journey; direction.
patiently adv.: In a patient manner.
oppressor n.: One who oppresses; one who imposes unjust burdens on others; one who harasses others with unjust laws or unreasonable severity. [L.]
whereon adv.: On which; -- used relatively; as, the earth whereon we live.
cursed a.: Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Proclamation 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 Proclamation, 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-proclamation.html, id L24920.

Form and metre

The Proclamation is 35 lines in 9 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 6 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).

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.

2 AABB herds^A · words^A · flee^B · free^B
3 --AA heaven · forgiven · sees^A · keys^A
4 AABB slave^A · grave^A · trod^B · god^B
5 AAB-B away^A · lay^A · limb^B · pardon · him^B
6 AABB came^A · flame^A · gave^B · slave^B
7 AABB dumb^A · come^A · song^B · wrong^B
8 AABB restraint^A · saint^A · spare^B · prayer^B
9 AABB again^A · pain^A · first^B · cursed^B

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
President Lincoln's proclamation of emancipation was issued	18	/˘˘/˘·˘/˘·˘·˘/˘·/˘
January 1, 1863.	4	/˘·˘
SAINT PATRICK, slave to Milcho of the herds	10	·/˘·······
Of Ballymena, wakened with these words	10	·····/˘···
"Arise, and flee	4	˘/··
Out from the land of bondage, and be free!"	10	·····/˘···
Glad as a soul in pain, who hears from heaven	11	·········/˘
The angels singing of his sins forgiven,	11	·/˘/˘···˘/˘
And, wondering, sees	5	·/˘˘·
His prison opening to their golden keys,	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
He rose a man who laid him down a slave,	10	··········
Shook from his locks the ashes of the grave,	10	·····/˘···
And outward trod	4	·/˘·
Into the glorious liberty of God.	10	···/˘/˘˘··
He cast the symbols of his shame away;	10	···/˘···˘/
And, passing where the sleeping Milcho lay,	10	·/˘··/˘···
Though back and limb	4	····
Smarted with wrong, he prayed, "God pardon	10	/˘····˘·/˘
him!"	1	·
So went he forth; but in God's time he came	10	··········
To light on Uilline's hills a holy flame;	10	·······/˘·
And, dying, gave	4	·/˘·
The land a saint that lost him as a slave.	10	··········
O dark, sad millions, patiently and dumb	10	···/˘/˘˘··
Waiting for God, your hour at last has come,	10	/˘···/····
And freedom's song	4	·/˘·
Breaks the long silence of your night of wrong!	10	···/˘·····
Arise and flee! shake off the vile restraint	10	˘/······˘/
Of ages; but, like Ballymena's saint,	10	·/˘·······
The oppressor spare,	5	·˘/˘·
Heap only on his head the coals of prayer.	10	·/˘·······
Go forth, like him! like him return again,	10	······˘/˘/
To bless the land whereon in bitter pain	10	····˘/·/˘·
Ye toiled at first,	4	····
And heal with freedom what your slavery cursed.	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.

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