To Faneuil Hall
MEN! if manhood still ye claim,If the Northern pulse can thrill,Roused by wrong or stung by shame,Freely, strongly still;Let the sounds of traffic dieShut the mill-gate, leave the stall,Fling the axe and hammer by;Throng to Faneuil Hall!
Wrongs which freemen never brooked,Dangers grim and fierce as they,Which, like couching lions, lookedOn your fathers' way;These your instant zeal demand,Shaking with their earthquake-callEvery rood of Pilgrim land,Ho, to Faneuil Hall!
From your capes and sandy bars,From your mountain-ridges cold,Through whose pines the westering starsStoop their crowns of gold;Come, and with your footsteps wakeEchoes from that holy wall;Once again, for Freedom's sake,Rock your fathers' hall!
Up, and tread beneath your feetEvery cord by party spun:Let your hearts together beatAs the heart of one.Banks and tariffs, stocks and trade,Let them rise or let them fall:Freedom asks your common aid,--Up, to Faneuil Hall!
Up, and let each voice that speaksRing from thence to Southern plains,Sharply as the blow which breaksPrison-bolts and chains!Speak as well becomes the freeDreaded more than steel or ball,Shall your calmest utterance be,Heard from Faneuil Hall!
Have they wronged us? Let us thenRender back nor threats nor prayers;Have they chained our free-born men?Let us unchain theirs!Up, your banner leads the van,Blazoned, "Liberty for all!"
Finish what your sires began!Up, to Faneuil Hall!
Words in this poem
- couching n.
- The operation of putting down or displacing the opaque lens in cataract.
- rood n.
- A representation in sculpture or in painting of the cross with Christ hanging on it. [AS. rr, D. roede rod, G. ruthe, rute, OHG. ruota. CF. Rod a measure.]
- westering a.
- Passing to the west.
- 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,]
- unchain v. t.
- To free from chains or slavery; to let loose. Prior. [1st pref. un- + chain.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Faneuil Hall 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, To Faneuil Hall, 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/to-faneuil-hall.html, id L24864.
Form and metre
To Faneuil Hall is 48 lines in 7 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABABCDCD claimA · thrillB · shameA · stillB · dieC · stallD · byC · hallD
- 2 -E-EFDFD brooked · theyE · looked · wayE · demandF · callD · landF · hallD
- 3 GHGHIDID barsG · coldH · starsG · goldH · wakeI · wallD · sakeI · hallD
- 4 JKJKLDLD feetJ · spunK · beatJ · oneK · tradeL · fallD · aidL · hallD
- 5 -M-MNDND speaks · plainsM · breaks · chainsM · freeN · ballD · beN · hallD
- 6 OPOPQD thenO · prayersP · menO · theirsP · vanQ · allD
- 7 QD beganQ · hallD
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| MEN! if manhood still ye claim, | 7 | ··/···· |
| If the Northern pulse can thrill, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Roused by wrong or stung by shame, | 8 | ·˘······ |
| Freely, strongly still; | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| Let the sounds of traffic die | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Shut the mill-gate, leave the stall, | 7 | ······· |
| Fling the axe and hammer by; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Throng to Faneuil Hall! | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| Wrongs which freemen never brooked, | 8 | ··/˘/˘·˘ |
| Dangers grim and fierce as they, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Which, like couching lions, looked | 8 | ··/˘/˘·˘ |
| On your fathers' way; | 5 | ··/˘· |
| These your instant zeal demand, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Shaking with their earthquake-call | 7 | /˘··/·· |
| Every rood of Pilgrim land, | 8 | /˘˘··/˘· |
| Ho, to Faneuil Hall! | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| From your capes and sandy bars, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| From your mountain-ridges cold, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Through whose pines the westering stars | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| Stoop their crowns of gold; | 5 | ····· |
| Come, and with your footsteps wake | 7 | ····/·· |
| Echoes from that holy wall; | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Once again, for Freedom's sake, | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Rock your fathers' hall! | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Up, and tread beneath your feet | 7 | ······· |
| Every cord by party spun: | 8 | /˘˘··/˘· |
| Let your hearts together beat | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| As the heart of one. | 5 | ····· |
| Banks and tariffs, stocks and trade, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Let them rise or let them fall: | 7 | ······· |
| Freedom asks your common aid,-- | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Up, to Faneuil Hall! | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| Up, and let each voice that speaks | 7 | ······· |
| Ring from thence to Southern plains, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Sharply as the blow which breaks | 7 | /˘····· |
| Prison-bolts and chains! | 5 | /˘··· |
| Speak as well becomes the free | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Dreaded more than steel or ball, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Shall your calmest utterance be, | 8 | ··/˘/˘˘· |
| Heard from Faneuil Hall! | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| Have they wronged us? Let us then | 8 | ···˘···· |
| Render back nor threats nor prayers; | 7 | /˘····· |
| Have they chained our free-born men? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Let us unchain theirs! | 5 | ··˘/· |
| Up, your banner leads the van, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Blazoned, "Liberty for all!" | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| Finish what your sires began! | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Up, to Faneuil Hall! | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
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.