"Great Men Have Been Among Us; Hands That Penned"
Great men have been among us; hands that pennedAnd tongues that uttered wisdom--better none:The later Sidney, Marvel, Harrington,Young Vane, and others who called Milton friend.These moralists could act and comprehend:They knew how genuine glory was put on;Taught us how rightfully a nation shoneIn splendour: what strength was, that would not bendBut in magnanimous meekness. France, 'tis strange,Hath brought forth no such souls as we had then.Perpetual emptiness! unceasing change!No single volume paramount, no code,No master spirit, no determined road;But equally a want of books and men!
Words in this poem
- penned a.
- Winged; having plumes.
- rightfully adv.
- According to right or justice.
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- meekness n.
- The quality or state of being meek.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
"Great Men Have Been Among Us; Hands That Penned" is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 2 (of 8), Project Gutenberg ebook #12145; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Wordsworth, "Great Men Have Been Among Us; Hands That Penned", in The Poetical Works, Volume II (1798–1807), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12145, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wordsworth-vol2/great-men-have-been-among-us-hands-that-penned.html, id L17367.
Form and metre
"Great Men Have Been Among Us; Hands That Penned" is 14 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 57% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 87% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.6 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 ABBAABBACDCEED pennedA · noneB · harringtonB · friendA · comprehendA · onB · shoneB · bendA · strangeC · thenD · changeC · codeE · roadE · menD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Great men have been among us; hands that penned | 10 | ·········· |
| And tongues that uttered wisdom--better none: | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| The later Sidney, Marvel, Harrington, | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Young Vane, and others who called Milton friend. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| These moralists could act and comprehend: | 9 | ·/˘····˘/ |
| They knew how genuine glory was put on; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Taught us how rightfully a nation shone | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| In splendour: what strength was, that would not bend | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| But in magnanimous meekness. France, 'tis strange, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Hath brought forth no such souls as we had then. | 10 | ·········· |
| Perpetual emptiness! unceasing change! | 9 | ˘/˘/˘˘/˘· |
| No single volume paramount, no code, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| No master spirit, no determined road; | 9 | ·/˘/·˘/˘· |
| But equally a want of books and men! | 9 | ·/˘······ |
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.