Thy Will Be Done
WE see not, know not; all our wayIs night,--with Thee alone is dayFrom out the torrent's troubled drift,Above the storm our prayers we lift,Thy will be done!
The flesh may fail, the heart may faint,But who are we to make complaint,Or dare to plead, in times like these,The weakness of our love of ease?Thy will be done!
We take with solemn thankfulnessOur burden up, nor ask it less,And count it joy that even weMay suffer, serve, or wait for Thee,Whose will be done!
Though dim as yet in tint and line,We trace Thy picture's wise design,And thank Thee that our age suppliesIts dark relief of sacrifice.Thy will be done!
And if, in our unworthiness,Thy sacrificial wine we press;If from Thy ordeal's heated barsOur feet are seamed with crimson scars,Thy will be done!
If, for the age to come, this hourOf trial hath vicarious power,And, blest by Thee, our present pain,Be Liberty's eternal gain,Thy will be done!
Strike, Thou the Master, we Thy keys,The anthem of the destinies!The minor of Thy loftier strain,Our hearts shall breathe the old refrain,Thy will be done!
Words in this poem
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
- sacrificial a.
- Of or pertaining to sacrifice or sacrifices; consisting in sacrifice; performing sacrifice.
- seamed a.
- Out of condition; not in good condition; -- said of a hawk.
- vicarious a.
- Of or pertaining to a vicar, substitute, or deputy; deputed; delegated; as, vicarious power or authority. [L. vicarius, from vicis change, alternation, turn, the position, place, or office of one person as assumed by another; akin to Gr. wechsel a change, and probabl]
- anthem v. t.
- To celebrate with anthems.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Thy Will Be Done 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, Thy Will Be Done, 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/thy-will-be-done.html, id L24908.
Form and metre
Thy Will Be Done is 35 lines in 7 stanzas of 5 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 74% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABB- wayA · dayA · driftB · liftB · done
- 2 AABB- faintA · complaintA · theseB · easeB · done
- 3 AABB- thankfulnessA · lessA · weB · theeB · done
- 4 AA--- lineA · designA · supplies · sacrifice · done
- 5 AABB- unworthinessA · pressA · barsB · scarsB · done
- 6 AABB- hourA · powerA · painB · gainB · done
- 7 AABB- keysA · destiniesA · strainB · refrainB · done
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 |
|---|---|---|
| WE see not, know not; all our way | 8 | ······/· |
| Is night,--with Thee alone is day | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| From out the torrent's troubled drift, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Above the storm our prayers we lift, | 8 | ····/··· |
| Thy will be done! | 4 | ···· |
| The flesh may fail, the heart may faint, | 8 | ········ |
| But who are we to make complaint, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Or dare to plead, in times like these, | 8 | ········ |
| The weakness of our love of ease? | 8 | ·/˘·/··· |
| Thy will be done! | 4 | ···· |
| We take with solemn thankfulness | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Our burden up, nor ask it less, | 8 | //˘····· |
| And count it joy that even we | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| May suffer, serve, or wait for Thee, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Whose will be done! | 4 | ···· |
| Though dim as yet in tint and line, | 8 | ········ |
| We trace Thy picture's wise design, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And thank Thee that our age supplies | 8 | ····/·˘/ |
| Its dark relief of sacrifice. | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Thy will be done! | 4 | ···· |
| And if, in our unworthiness, | 8 | ···/···· |
| Thy sacrificial wine we press; | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| If from Thy ordeal's heated bars | 8 | ···˘//˘· |
| Our feet are seamed with crimson scars, | 8 | /····/˘· |
| Thy will be done! | 4 | ···· |
| If, for the age to come, this hour | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Of trial hath vicarious power, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘/ |
| And, blest by Thee, our present pain, | 8 | ····/˘/· |
| Be Liberty's eternal gain, | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/˘· |
| Thy will be done! | 4 | ···· |
| Strike, Thou the Master, we Thy keys, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The anthem of the destinies! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| The minor of Thy loftier strain, | 8 | ·/··/˘˘· |
| Our hearts shall breathe the old refrain, | 8 | /·····˘/ |
| Thy will be done! | 4 | ···· |
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.