Analysis of John Underhill

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



A score of years had come and gone
Since the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth stone,
When Captain Underhill, bearing scars
From Indian ambush and Flemish wars,
Left three-hilled Boston and wandered down,
East by north, to Cocheco town.

With Vane the younger, in counsel sweet,
He had sat at Anna Hutchinson's feet,
And, when the bolt of banishment fell
On the head of his saintly oracle,
He had shared her ill as her good report,
And braved the wrath of the General Court.

He shook from his feet as he rode away
The dust of the Massachusetts Bay.
The world might bless and the world might ban,
What did it matter the perfect man,
To whom the freedom of earth was given,
Proof against sin, and sure of heaven?

He cheered his heart as he rode along
With screed of Scripture and holy song,
Or thought how he rode with his lances free
By the Lower Rhine and the Zuyder-Zee,
Till his wood-path grew to a trodden road,
And Hilton Point in the distance showed.

He saw the church with the block-house nigh,
The two fair rivers, the flakes thereby,
And, tacking to windward, low and crank,
The little shallop from Strawberry Bank;
And he rose in his stirrups and looked abroad
Over land and water, and praised the Lord.

Goodly and stately and grave to see,
Into the clearing's space rode he,
With the sun on the hilt of his sword in sheath,
And his silver buckles and spurs beneath,
And the settlers welcomed him, one and all,
From swift Quampeagan to Gonic Fall.

And he said to the elders: 'Lo, I come
As the way seemed open to seek a home.
Somewhat the Lord hath wrought by my hands
In the Narragansett and Netherlands,
And if here ye have work for a Christian man,
I will tarry, and serve ye as best I can.

'I boast not of gifts, but fain would own
The wonderful favor God hath shown,
The special mercy vouchsafed one day
On the shore of Narragansett Bay,
As I sat, with my pipe, from the camp aside,
And mused like Isaac at eventide.

'A sudden sweetness of peace I found,
A garment of gladness wrapped me round;
I felt from the law of works released,
The strife of the flesh and spirit ceased,
My faith to a full assurance grew,
And all I had hoped for myself I knew.

'Now, as God appointeth, I keep my way,
I shall not stumble, I shall not stray;
He hath taken away my fig-leaf dress,
I wear the robe of His righteousness;
And the shafts of Satan no more avail
Than Pequot arrows on Christian mail.'

'Tarry with us,' the settlers cried,
'Thou man of God, as our ruler and guide.'
And Captain Underhill bowed his head.
'The will of the Lord be done!' he said.
And the morrow beheld him sitting down
In the ruler's seat in Cocheco town.

And he judged therein as a just man should;
His words were wise and his rule was good;
He coveted not his neighbor's land,
From the holding of bribes he shook his hand;
And through the camps of the heathen ran
A wholesome fear of the valiant man.

But the heart is deceitful, the good Book saith,
And life hath ever a savor of death.
Through hymns of triumph the tempter calls,
And whoso thinketh he standeth falls.
Alas! ere their round the seasons ran,
There was grief in the soul of the saintly man.

The tempter's arrows that rarely fail
Had found the joints of his spiritual mail;
And men took note of his gloomy air,
The shame in his eye, the halt in his prayer,
The signs of a battle lost within,
The pain of a soul in the coils of sin.

Then a whisper of scandal linked his name
With broken vows and a life of blame;
And the people looked askance on him
As he walked among them sullen and grim,
Ill at ease, and bitter of word,
And prompt of quarrel with hand or sword.

None knew how, with prayer and fasting still,
He strove in the bonds of his evil will;
But he shook himself like Samson at length,
And girded anew his loins of strength,
And bade the crier go up and down
And call together the wondering town.

Jeer and murmur and shaking of head
Ceased as he rose in his place and said
'Men, brethren, and fathers, well ye know
How I came among you a year ago,
Strong in the faith that my soul was freed
From sin of feeling, or thought, or deed.

'I have sinned, I own it with grief and shame,
But not with a lie on my lips I came.
In my blindness I verily thought my heart
Swept and garnished in every part.
He chargeth His angels with folly; He sees
The heavens unclean. Was I more than these?

'I urge no plea. At your


Scheme XAXXBB CCXXDD EEFFGG HHIIJJ KKLLXM IINNOO XXXXFF AAEEPC QQRRSS EEXXTT PPUUBB VVWWFF NXXXFF TTYYZZ 1 1 2 2 XM 3 3 4 4 BB UU5 5 6 6 1 1 7 7 8 8 X
Poetic Form
Metre 01111101 1010101101 11010101 110010101 111100101 111111 110100101 11111011 010111001 1011110100 1110110101 0101101001 1111111101 01100101 011100111 111100011 1101011110 101101110 111111101 111100101 111111111 101010011 1111110101 010100101 110110111 011100111 010110101 01011101 01101100101 1010100101 100100111 0101111 10110111101 0110100101 0010101101 111111 0111010111 1011101101 110111111 000100100 01111110101 11100111111 111111111 010010111 01010111 10110101 11111110101 0111011 010101111 01011111 111011101 011010101 111010101 011111111 11111111 111101111 1110011111 110111100 0011101101 11101101 10110101 11111101001 01010111 011011111 001011101 0011011 0110110111 110101111 110011101 1010111111 010110101 010110101 10110100111 0111001011 11110011 011111 011110101 11100110101 01101101 11011110001 011111101 0101101011 011010101 0110100111 1010110111 110100111 001010111 1110111001 11101011 011101111 111110101 1100111101 1110111011 01011111 010101101 0101001001 101001011 111101101 110010111 1110110101 100111111 111101111 1111111101 1110111111 011011111 101001001 1111011011 0100111111 111111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 4,244
Words 837
Sentences 32
Stanzas 19
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 1
Lines Amount 109
Letters per line (avg) 31
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 178
Words per stanza (avg) 44
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

4:11 min read
132

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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