Analysis of The Pennsylvania Pilgrim
John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)
I sing the Pilgrim of a softer clime
And milder speech than those brave men's who brought
To the ice and iron of our winter time
A will as firm, a creed as stern, and wrought
With one mailed hand, and with the other fought.
Simply, as fits my theme, in homely rhyme
I sing the blue-eyed German Spener taught,
Through whose veiled, mystic faith the Inward Light,
Steady and still, an easy brightness, shone,
Transfiguring all things in its radiance white.
The garland which his meekness never sought
I bring him; over fields of harvest sown
With seeds of blessing, now to ripeness grown,
I bid the sower pass before the reapers' sight.
The Pennsylvania Pilgrim
Never in tenderer quiet lapsed the day
From Pennsylvania's vales of spring away,
Where, forest-walled, the scattered hamlets lay
Along the wedded rivers. One long bar
Of purple cloud, on which the evening star
Shone like a jewel on a scimitar,
Held the sky's golden gateway. Through the deep
Hush of the woods a murmur seemed to creep,
The Schuylkill whispering in a voice of sleep.
All else was still. The oxen from their ploughs
Rested at last, and from their long day's browse
Came the dun files of Krisheim's home-bound cows.
And the young city, round whose virgin zone
The rivers like two mighty arms were thrown,
Marked by the smoke of evening fires alone,
Lay in the distance, lovely even then
With its fair women and its stately men
Gracing the forest court of William Penn,
Urban yet sylvan; in its rough-hewn frames
Of oak and pine the dryads held their claims,
And lent its streets their pleasant woodland names.
Anna Pastorius down the leafy lane
Looked city-ward, then stooped to prune again
Her vines and simples, with a sigh of pain.
For fast the streaks of ruddy sunset paled
In the oak clearing, and, as daylight failed,
Slow, overhead, the dusky night-birds sailed.
Again she looked: between green walls of shade,
With low-bent head as if with sorrow weighed,
Daniel Pastorius slowly came and said,
'God's peace be with thee, Anna!' Then he stood
Silent before her, wrestling with the mood
Of one who sees the evil and not good.
'What is it, my Pastorius?' As she spoke,
A slow, faint smile across his features broke,
Sadder than tears. 'Dear heart,' he said, 'our folk
'Are even as others. Yea, our goodliest Friends
Are frail; our elders have their selfish ends,
And few dare trust the Lord to make amends
'For duty's loss. So even our feeble word
For the dumb slaves the startled meeting heard
As if a stone its quiet waters stirred;
'And, as the clerk ceased reading, there began
A ripple of dissent which downward ran
In widening circles, as from man to man.
'Somewhat was said of running before sent,
Of tender fear that some their guide outwent,
Troublers of Israel. I was scarce intent
'On hearing, for behind the reverend row
Of gallery Friends, in dumb and piteous show,
I saw, methought, dark faces full of woe.
'And, in the spirit, I was taken where
They toiled and suffered; I was made aware
Of shame and wrath and anguish and despair!
'And while the meeting smothered our poor plea
With cautious phrase, a Voice there seemed to be,
As ye have done to these ye do to me!'
'So it all passed; and the old tithe went on
Of anise, mint, and cumin, till the sun
Set, leaving still the weightier work undone.
'Help, for the good man faileth! Who is strong,
If these be weak? Who shall rebuke the wrong,
If these consent? How long, O Lord! how long!'
He ceased; and, bound in spirit with the bound,
With folded arms, and eyes that sought the ground,
Walked musingly his little garden round.
About him, beaded with the falling dew,
Rare plants of power and herbs of healing grew,
Such as Van Helmont and Agrippa knew.
For, by the lore of Gorlitz' gentle sage,
With the mild mystics of his dreamy age
He read the herbal signs of nature's page,
As once he heard in sweet Von Merlau's' bowers
Fair as herself, in boyhood's happy hours,
The pious Spener read his creed in flowers.
'The dear Lord give us patience!' said his wife,
Touching with finger-tip an aloe, rife
With leaves sharp-pointed like an Aztec knife
Or Carib spear, a gift to William Penn
From the rare gardens of John Evelyn,
Brought from the Spanish Main by merchantmen.
'See this strange plant its steady purpose hold,
And, year by year, its patient leaves unfold,
Scheme ABABBABCDCBDDC A EEE FFF GGG HHH DDD III JJJ KIK LLL MMX NXN OOO PPP QQQ RRR SBS TTT UUU VVA XWW XXX YYY ZZZ 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 IWX XF Poetic Form Metre 1101010101 0101111111 101010110101 0111011101 1111010101 1011110101 110111011 1111010101 1001110101 111011001 010111101 1111011101 111101111 11010101011 001010 100110101 101011101 1101010101 0101010111 1101110101 11010101 101101101 1101010111 0110000111 1111010111 1011011111 101111111 0011011101 0101110101 11011101001 1001010101 1111001101 1001011101 1011001111 110101111 011111011 10100010101 1101111101 010110111 110111011 001100111 110101111 0111011111 1111111101 10100010101 1111110111 1001010101 1111010011 11111000111 0111011101 10111111101 11011011011 11101011101 0111011101 11111010101 1011010101 1101110101 0101110101 0101011101 01001011111 1111110011 110111111 1110011101 11010101001 1100101011 111110111 0001011101 1101011101 1101010001 01010101011 1101011111 1111111111 1111001111 1101010101 110101101 110111111 1111110101 1101111111 1101010101 1101011101 11110101 0111010101 11110011101 111100101 110111101 1011011101 1101011101 1111011110 1101011010 0101111010 0111110111 101101111 111101111 111011101 1011011100 1101011100 1111110101 01111101011 Closest metre Iambic pentameter Characters 4,226 Words 779 Sentences 34 Stanzas 30 Stanza Lengths 14, 1, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2 Lines Amount 98 Letters per line (avg) 34 Words per line (avg) 8 Letters per stanza (avg) 112 Words per stanza (avg) 26 Font size:Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 11, 2023
- 3:54 min read
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"The Pennsylvania Pilgrim" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23164/the-pennsylvania-pilgrim>.
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