To Pennsylvania
O STATE prayer-founded! never hungSuch choice upon a people's tongue,Such power to bless or ban,As that which makes thy whisper Fate,For which on thee the centuries wait,And destinies of man!
Across thy Alleghanian chain,With groanings from a land in pain,The west-wind finds its way:Wild-wailing from Missouri's floodThe crying of thy children's bloodIs in thy ears to-day!
And unto thee in Freedom's hourOf sorest need God gives the powerTo ruin or to save;To wound or heal, to blight or blessWith fertile field or wilderness,A free home or a grave!
Then let thy virtue match the crime,Rise to a level with the time;And, if a son of thineBetray or tempt thee, Brutus-likeFor Fatherland and Freedom strikeAs Justice gives the sign.
Wake, sleeper, from thy dream of ease,The great occasion's forelock seize;And let the north-wind strong,And golden leaves of autumn, beThy coronal of VictoryAnd thy triumphal song.
Words in this poem
- fatherland n.
- One's native land; the native land of one's fathers or ancestors. [Imitated fr. D. vaderland. See Father, and Land.]
- sleeper n.
- One who sleeps; a slumberer; hence, a drone, or lazy person.
- forelock n.
- The lock of hair that grows from the forepart of the head.
- coronal a.
- Of or pertaining to a corona (in any of the senses). [L. coronalis: cf. F. coronal.]
- triumphal n.
- A token of victory.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania, 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-pennsylvania.html, id L24898.
Form and metre
To Pennsylvania is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See 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 AABCCB hungA · tongueA · banB · fateC · waitC · manB
- 2 AABCCB chainA · painA · wayB · floodC · bloodC · dayB
- 3 AABCCB hourA · powerA · saveB · blessC · wildernessC · graveB
- 4 AABCCB crimeA · timeA · thineB · likeC · strikeC · signB
- 5 AAB--B easeA · seizeA · strongB · be · victory · songB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O STATE prayer-founded! never hung | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Such choice upon a people's tongue, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Such power to bless or ban, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| As that which makes thy whisper Fate, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For which on thee the centuries wait, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And destinies of man! | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Across thy Alleghanian chain, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| With groanings from a land in pain, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The west-wind finds its way: | 6 | ······ |
| Wild-wailing from Missouri's flood | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| The crying of thy children's blood | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Is in thy ears to-day! | 6 | ······ |
| And unto thee in Freedom's hour | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Of sorest need God gives the power | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| To ruin or to save; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| To wound or heal, to blight or bless | 8 | ········ |
| With fertile field or wilderness, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| A free home or a grave! | 6 | ······ |
| Then let thy virtue match the crime, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Rise to a level with the time; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And, if a son of thine | 6 | ······ |
| Betray or tempt thee, Brutus-like | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| For Fatherland and Freedom strike | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| As Justice gives the sign. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Wake, sleeper, from thy dream of ease, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The great occasion's forelock seize; | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| And let the north-wind strong, | 6 | ······ |
| And golden leaves of autumn, be | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Thy coronal of Victory | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘˘ |
| And thy triumphal song. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
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