What of the Day?
A SOUND of tumult troubles all the air,Like the low thunders of a sultry skyFar-rolling ere the downright lightnings glare;The hills blaze red with warnings; foes draw nigh,Treading the dark with challenge and reply.Behold the burden of the prophet's vision;The gathering hosts,--the Valley of Decision,Dusk with the wings of eagles wheeling o'er.Day of the Lord, of darkness and not light!It breaks in thunder and the whirlwind's roarEven so, Father! Let Thy will be done;Turn and o'erturn, end what Thou bast begunIn judgment or in mercy: as for me,If but the least and frailest, let me beEvermore numbered with the truly freeWho find Thy service perfect liberty!I fain would thank Thee that my mortal lifeHas reached the hour (albeit through care and pain)When Good and Evil, as for final strife,Close dim and vast on Armageddon's plain;And Michael and his angels once againDrive howling back the Spirits of the Night.Oh for the faith to read the signs arightAnd, from the angle of Thy perfect sight,See Truth's white banner floating on before;And the Good Cause, despite of venal friends,And base expedients, move to noble ends;See Peace with Freedom make to Time amends,And, through its cloud of dust, the threshing-floor,Flailed by the thunder, heaped with chaffless grain.
Words in this poem
- downright adv.
- Straight down; perpendicularly.
- glare v. i.
- To shine with a bright, dazzling light. [OE. glaren, gloren; cf. AS. glær amber, LG. glaren to glow or burn like coals, D. gloren to glimmer; prob. akin to E. glass.]
- wheeling n.
- The act of conveying anything, or traveling, on wheels, or in a wheeled vehicle.
- bast n.
- The inner fibrous bark of various plants; esp. of the lime tree; hence, matting, cordage, etc., made therefrom. [AS. bæst; akin to Icel., Sw., Dan., D., & G. bast, of unknown origin. Cf. Bass the tree.]
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- 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; -]
- albeit conj.
- Even though; although; notwithstanding. [OE. al be although it be, where al is our all. Cf. Although.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- aright adv.
- Rightly; correctly; in a right way or form; without mistake or crime; as, to worship God aright. [Pref. a- + right.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
What of the Day? 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, What of the Day?, 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/what-of-the-day.html, id L24902.
Form and metre
What of the Day? is 30 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 ABABBCC-DEFFGGG-HIHIIDDDEJJJEI airA · skyB · glareA · nighB · replyB · visionC · decisionC · o'er · lightD · roarE · doneF · begunF · meG · beG · freeG · liberty · lifeH · painI · strifeH · plainI · againI · nightD · arightD · sightD · beforeE · friendsJ · endsJ · amendsJ · floorE · grainI
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A SOUND of tumult troubles all the air, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Like the low thunders of a sultry sky | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Far-rolling ere the downright lightnings glare; | 10 | ·/˘··/·/˘· |
| The hills blaze red with warnings; foes draw nigh, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Treading the dark with challenge and reply. | 10 | /˘···/˘·˘/ |
| Behold the burden of the prophet's vision; | 11 | ˘/·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| The gathering hosts,--the Valley of Decision, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Dusk with the wings of eagles wheeling o'er. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Day of the Lord, of darkness and not light! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| It breaks in thunder and the whirlwind's roar | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| Even so, Father! Let Thy will be done; | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Turn and o'erturn, end what Thou bast begun | 10 | ········˘/ |
| In judgment or in mercy: as for me, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| If but the least and frailest, let me be | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Evermore numbered with the truly free | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Who find Thy service perfect liberty! | 10 | ···/˘/·/˘˘ |
| I fain would thank Thee that my mortal life | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Has reached the hour (albeit through care and pain) | 11 | ···/˘/˘···· |
| When Good and Evil, as for final strife, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Close dim and vast on Armageddon's plain; | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| And Michael and his angels once again | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Drive howling back the Spirits of the Night. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Oh for the faith to read the signs aright | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And, from the angle of Thy perfect sight, | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| See Truth's white banner floating on before; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And the Good Cause, despite of venal friends, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| And base expedients, move to noble ends; | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| See Peace with Freedom make to Time amends, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| And, through its cloud of dust, the threshing-floor, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Flailed by the thunder, heaped with chaffless grain. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
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.