Analysis of The Landmarks
John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)
I.
THROUGH the streets of Marblehead
Fast the red-winged terror sped;
Blasting, withering, on it came,
With its hundred tongues of flame,
Where St. Michael's on its way
Stood like chained Andromeda,
Waiting on the rock, like her,
Swift doom or deliverer!
Church that, after sea-moss grew
Over walls no longer new,
Counted generations five,
Four entombed and one alive;
Heard the martial thousand tread
Battleward from Marblehead;
Saw within the rock-walled bay
Treville's liked pennons play,
And the fisher's dory met
By the barge of Lafayette,
Telling good news in advance
Of the coming fleet of France!
Church to reverend memories, dear,
Quaint in desk and chandelier;
Bell, whose century-rusted tongue
Burials tolled and bridals rung;
Loft, whose tiny organ kept
Keys that Snetzler's hand had swept;
Altar, o'er whose tablet old
Sinai's law its thunders rolled!
Suddenly the sharp cry came
'Look! St. Michael's is aflame!'
Round the low tower wall the fire
Snake-like wound its coil of ire.
Sacred in its gray respect
From the jealousies of sect,
'Save it,' seemed the thought of all,
'Save it, though our roof-trees fall!'
Up the tower the young men sprung;
One, the bravest, outward swung
By the rope, whose kindling strands
Smoked beneath the holder's hands,
Smiting down with strokes of power
Burning fragments from the tower.
Then the gazing crowd beneath
Broke the painful pause of breath;
Brave men cheered from street to street,
With home's ashes at their feet;
Houseless women kerchiefs waved:
'Thank the Lord! St. Michael's saved!'
II.
In the heart of Boston town
Stands the church of old renown,
From whose walls the impulse went
Which set free a continent;
From whose pulpit's oracle
Prophecies of freedom fell;
And whose steeple-rocking din
Rang the nation's birth-day in!
Standing at this very hour
Perilled like St. Michael's tower,
Held not in the clasp of flame,
But by mammon's grasping claim.
Shall it be of Boston said
She is shamed by Marblehead?
City of our pride! as there,
Hast thou none to do and dare?
Life was risked for Michael's shrine;
Shall not wealth be staked for thine?
Woe to thee, when men shall search
Vainly for the Old South Church;
When from Neck to Boston Stone,
All thy pride of place is gone;
When from Bay and railroad car,
Stretched before them wide and far,
Men shall only see a great
Wilderness of brick and slate,
Every holy spot o'erlaid
By the commonplace of trade!
City of our love': to thee
Duty is but destiny.
True to all thy record saith,
Keep with thy traditions faith;
Ere occasion's overpast,
Hold its flowing forelock fast;
Honor still the precedents
Of a grand munificence;
In thy old historic way
Give, as thou didst yesterday
At the South-land's call, or on
Need's demand from fired St. John.
Set thy Church's muffled bell
Free the generous deed to tell.
Let thy loyal hearts rejoice
In the glad, sonorous voice,
Ringing from the brazen mouth
Of the bell of the Old South,--
Ringing clearly, with a will,
'What she was is Boston still!'
Scheme | ABB CC DX EE FF GG BB DD HH II JJ KK LL MM CC EX NN OO KK PP EE QX RR SS ATT XX XU VV EE CC BB WW XX YY XX ZZ 1 1 BX 2 2 QX BX XI DD 3 3 UU 4 4 5 5 6 6 |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1 101110 1011101 10100111 1110111 1110111 1110100 1010110 1110100 1110111 1011101 100101 1010101 1010101 1110 1010111 1111 0010101 101101 1011001 1010111 111001001 1010001 11100101 1001011 1110101 111111 10101101 111101 1000111 1110101 101101010 1111111 1001101 1010011 1110111 11110111 10100111 1010101 1011101 1010101 1111110 10101010 1010101 1010111 1111111 1110111 110101 1011101 1 0011101 1011101 1110101 1110100 111100 1001101 0110101 1010110 10111010 1111010 1100111 111101 1111101 111110 10110111 1111101 1111101 1111111 1111111 1010111 1111101 1111111 111011 1011101 1110101 1001101 1001011 101011 10110111 1011100 1111011 1110101 111 111011 1010100 1011 0110101 111110 1011111 10111011 1110101 10100111 1110101 0011001 1010101 1011011 1010101 1111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,912 |
Words | 521 |
Sentences | 29 |
Stanzas | 48 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 |
Lines Amount | 98 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 49 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 11 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:40 min read
- 45 Views
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"The Landmarks" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23129/the-landmarks>.
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