To John C. Fremont
THY error, Fremont, simply was to actA brave man's part, without the statesman's tact,And, taking counsel but of common sense,To strike at cause as well as consequence.Oh, never yet since Roland wound his hornAt Roncesvalles, has a blast been blownFar-heard, wide-echoed, startling as thine own,Heard from the van of freedom's hope forlornIt had been safer, doubtless, for the time,To flatter treason, and avoid offenceTo that Dark Power whose underlying crimeHeaves upward its perpetual turbulence.But if thine be the fate of all who breakThe ground for truth's seed, or forerun their yearsTill lost in distance, or with stout hearts makeA lane for freedom through the level spears,Still take thou courage! God has spoken through thee,Irrevocable, the mighty words, Be free!The land shakes with them, and the slave's dull earTurns from the rice-swamp stealthily to hear.Who would recall them now must first arrestThe winds that blow down from the free Northwest,Ruffling the Gulf; or like a scroll roll backThe Mississippi to its upper springs.Such words fulfil their prophecy, and lackBut the full time to harden into things.
Words in this poem
- tact n.
- The sense of touch; feeling. [L. tactus a touching, touch, fr. tangere, tactum, to touch: cf. F. tact. See Tangent.]
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- doubtless a.
- Free from fear or suspicion.
- avoid v. t.
- To empty. Wyclif. [OF. esvuidier, es (L. ex) + vuidier, voidier, to empty. See Void, a.]
- offence n.
- The act of offending in any sense; esp., a crime or a sin, an affront or an injury. [F., fr. L. offensa. See Offend.]
- heaves n.
- A disease of horses, characterized by difficult breathing, with heaving of the flank, wheezing, flatulency, and a peculiar cough; broken wind.
- forerun v. t.
- To turn before; to precede; to be in advance of (something following).
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To John C. Fremont 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 John C. Fremont, 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-john-c-fremont.html, id L24911.
Form and metre
To John C. Fremont is 26 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes AABBCDDCEBEBFGFGHHIIJJKLKL. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
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 AABBCDDCEBEBFGFGHHIIJJKLKL actA · tactA · senseB · consequenceB · hornC · blownD · ownD · forlornC · timeE · offenceB · crimeE · turbulenceB · breakF · yearsG · makeF · spearsG · theeH · freeH · earI · hearI · arrestJ · northwestJ · backK · springsL · lackK · thingsL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| THY error, Fremont, simply was to act | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| A brave man's part, without the statesman's tact, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And, taking counsel but of common sense, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| To strike at cause as well as consequence. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Oh, never yet since Roland wound his horn | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| At Roncesvalles, has a blast been blown | 9 | ········· |
| Far-heard, wide-echoed, startling as thine own, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Heard from the van of freedom's hope forlorn | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| It had been safer, doubtless, for the time, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| To flatter treason, and avoid offence | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘/ |
| To that Dark Power whose underlying crime | 10 | ···/··˘/˘· |
| Heaves upward its perpetual turbulence. | 11 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| But if thine be the fate of all who break | 10 | ·········· |
| The ground for truth's seed, or forerun their years | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Till lost in distance, or with stout hearts make | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| A lane for freedom through the level spears, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Still take thou courage! God has spoken through thee, | 11 | ···/˘··/˘·· |
| Irrevocable, the mighty words, Be free! | 10 | ˘/˘˘·/˘··· |
| The land shakes with them, and the slave's dull ear | 10 | ·········· |
| Turns from the rice-swamp stealthily to hear. | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Who would recall them now must first arrest | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| The winds that blow down from the free Northwest, | 10 | ·········/ |
| Ruffling the Gulf; or like a scroll roll back | 10 | /˘········ |
| The Mississippi to its upper springs. | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Such words fulfil their prophecy, and lack | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| But the full time to harden into things. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
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