Analysis of To Faneuil Hall

John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)



MEN! if manhood still ye claim,
If the Northern pulse can thrill,
Roused by wrong or stung by shame,
Freely, strongly still;
Let the sounds of traffic die:
Shut the mill-gate, leave the stall,
Fling the axe and hammer by;
Throng to Faneuil Hall!
Wrongs which freemen never brooked,
Dangers grim and fierce as they,
Which, like couching lions, looked
On your fathers' way;
These your instant zeal demand,
Shaking with their earthquake-call
Every rood of Pilgrim land,
Ho, to Faneuil Hall!
From your capes and sandy bars,
From your mountain-ridges cold,
Through whose pines the westering stars
Stoop their crowns of gold;
Come, and with your footsteps wake
Echoes from that holy wall;
Once again, for Freedom's sake,
Rock your fathers' hall!
Up, and tread beneath your feet
Every cord by party spun:
Let your hearts together beat
As the heart of one.
Banks and tarrifs, stocks and trade,
Let them rise or let them fall:
Freedom asks your common aid, —
Up, to Faneuil Hall!
Up, and let each voice that speaks
Ring from thence to Southern plains,
Sharply as the blow which breaks
Prison-bolts and chains!
Speak as well becomes the free:
Dreaded more than steel or ball,
Shall your calmest utterance be,
Heard from Faneuil Hall!
Have they wronged us? Let us then
Render back nor threats nor prayers;
Have they chained our free-born men?
Let us unchain theirs!
Up, your banner leads the van,
Blazoned, 'Liberty for all!'
Finish what your sires began!
Up, to Faneuil Hall!


Scheme ababcdcdcefegdgdhihijdjdklklmdmDnopoqdqdrsrstdtD
Poetic Form
Metre 111111 1010111 1111111 10101 1011101 1011101 1010101 111001 1110101 1010111 1110101 11101 1110101 101111 10011101 111001 1110101 1110101 111011 11111 101111 1011101 1011101 11101 1010111 10011101 1110101 10111 101101 1111111 1011101 111001 1011111 1111101 1010111 10101 1110101 1011111 11101001 111001 1111111 1011111 11110111 1111 1110101 110011 1011101 111001
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,428
Words 255
Sentences 15
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 48
Lines Amount 48
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 1,148
Words per stanza (avg) 252
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:16 min read
84

John Greenleaf Whittier

John Greenleaf Whittier was an influential American Quaker poet and ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. more…

All John Greenleaf Whittier poems | John Greenleaf Whittier Books

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