To the Thirty-Ninth Congress
O PEOPLE-CHOSEN! are ye notLikewise the chosen of the Lord,To do His will and speak His word?
From the loud thunder-storm of warNot man alone hath called ye forth,But He, the God of all the earth!
The torch of vengeance in your handsHe quenches; unto Him belongsThe solemn recompense of wrongs.
Enough of blood the land has seen,And not by cell or gallows-stairShall ye the way of God prepare.
Say to the pardon-seekers: KeepYour manhood, bend no suppliant knees,Nor palter with unworthy pleas.
Above your voices sounds the wailOf starving men; we shut in vainOur eyes to Pillow's ghastly stain. **
What words can drown that bitter cry?What tears wash out the stain of death?What oaths confirm your broken faith?
From you alone the guarantyOf union, freedom, peace, we claim;We urge no conqueror's terms of shame.
Alas! no victor's pride is ours;We bend above our triumphs wonLike David o'er his rebel son.
Be men, not beggars. Cancel allBy one brave, generous action; trustYour better instincts, and be just.
Make all men peers before the law,Take hands from off the negro's throat,Give black and white an equal vote.
Keep all your forfeit lives and lands,But give the common law's redressTo labor's utter nakedness.
Revive the old heroic will;Be in the right as brave and strongAs ye have proved yourselves in wrong.
Defeat shall then be victory,Your loss the wealth of full amends,And hate be love, and foes be friends.
Then buried be the dreadful past,Its common slain be mourned, and letAll memories soften to regret.
Then shall the Union's mother-heartHer lost and wandering ones recall,Forgiving and restoring all,--
And Freedom break her marble tranceAbove the Capitolian dome,Stretch hands, and bid ye welcome homeNovember, 1865.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- suppliant a.
- Asking earnestly and submissively; entreating; beseeching; supplicating. [F., p.pr. of supplier to entreat, L. supplicare. See Supplicate, and cf. Supplicant.]
- palter v. i.
- To haggle. Cotgrave. [See Paltry.]
- rebel a.
- Pertaining to rebels or rebellion; acting in revolt; rebellious; as, rebel troops. [F. rebelle, fr. L. rebellis. See Rebel, v. t.]
- generous a.
- Of honorable birth or origin; highborn. [F. généreux, fr. L. generous of noble birth, noble, excellent, magnanimous, fr. genus birth, race: cf. It. generoso. See 2d Gender.]
- nakedness n.
- The condition of being naked.
- defeat v. t.
- To undo; to disfigure; to destroy. [From F. défait, OF. desfait, p. p. ofe défaire, OF. desfaire, to undo; L. dis- + facere to do. See Feat, Fact, and cf. Disfashion.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- forgiving a.
- Disposed to forgive; inclined to overlook offenses; mild; merciful; compassionate; placable; as, a forgiving temper.
- capitolian a.
- Of or pertaining to the Capitol in Rome. [L. capitolinus: cf. F. capitolin.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the Thirty-Ninth Congress 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 the Thirty-Ninth Congress, 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-the-thirty-ninth-congress.html, id L24928.
Form and metre
To the Thirty-Ninth Congress is 52 lines in 17 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 54% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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.
- 3 -AA hands · belongsA · wrongsA
- 4 -AA seen · stairA · prepareA
- 5 -AA keep · kneesA · pleasA
- 6 -AA wail · vainA · stainA
- 8 -AA guaranty · claimA · shameA
- 9 -AA ours · wonA · sonA
- 10 -AA all · trustA · justA
- 11 -AA law · throatA · voteA
- 12 -AA lands · redressA · nakednessA
- 13 -AA will · strongA · wrongA
- 14 -AA victory · amendsA · friendsA
- 15 -AA past · letA · regretA
- 16 -AA heart · recallA · allA
- 17 -AA- trance · domeA · homeA · —
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 PEOPLE-CHOSEN! are ye not | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Likewise the chosen of the Lord, | 8 | /··/˘··· |
| To do His will and speak His word? | 8 | ········ |
| From the loud thunder-storm of war | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Not man alone hath called ye forth, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| But He, the God of all the earth! | 8 | ········ |
| The torch of vengeance in your hands | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He quenches; unto Him belongs | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The solemn recompense of wrongs. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Enough of blood the land has seen, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| And not by cell or gallows-stair | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Shall ye the way of God prepare. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Say to the pardon-seekers: Keep | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Your manhood, bend no suppliant knees, | 9 | ·/···/˘˘· |
| Nor palter with unworthy pleas. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Above your voices sounds the wail | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of starving men; we shut in vain | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Our eyes to Pillow's ghastly stain. ** | 8 | /··/˘/˘· |
| What words can drown that bitter cry? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| What tears wash out the stain of death? | 8 | ········ |
| What oaths confirm your broken faith? | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| From you alone the guaranty | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Of union, freedom, peace, we claim; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| We urge no conqueror's terms of shame. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Alas! no victor's pride is ours; | 9 | ˘/·/˘··/˘ |
| We bend above our triumphs won | 8 | ····//˘· |
| Like David o'er his rebel son. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Be men, not beggars. Cancel all | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| By one brave, generous action; trust | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Your better instincts, and be just. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Make all men peers before the law, | 8 | ········ |
| Take hands from off the negro's throat, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Give black and white an equal vote. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Keep all your forfeit lives and lands, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But give the common law's redress | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| To labor's utter nakedness. | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Revive the old heroic will; | 8 | ˘/··˘/˘· |
| Be in the right as brave and strong | 8 | ········ |
| As ye have proved yourselves in wrong. | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Defeat shall then be victory, | 8 | ˘/···/˘˘ |
| Your loss the wealth of full amends, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And hate be love, and foes be friends. | 8 | ········ |
| Then buried be the dreadful past, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Its common slain be mourned, and let | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| All memories soften to regret. | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Then shall the Union's mother-heart | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Her lost and wandering ones recall, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Forgiving and restoring all,-- | 8 | ˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| And Freedom break her marble trance | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Above the Capitolian dome, | 8 | ········ |
| Stretch hands, and bid ye welcome home | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| November, 1865. | 3 | ˘/˘ |
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