Analysis of The Pine Tree
John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)
LIFT again the stately emblem on the Bay State's rusted shield,
Give to Northern winds the Pine-Tree on our banner's tattered field.
Sons of men who sat in council with their Bibles round the board,
Answering England's royal missive with a firm, 'Thus saith the Lord!'
Rise again for home and freedom! set the battle in array!
What the fathers did of old time we their sons must do to-day.
Tell us not of banks and tariffs, cease your paltry pedler cries;
Shall the good State sink her honor that your gambling stocks may rise?
Would ye barter man for cotton? That your gains may sum up higher,
Must we kiss the feet of Moloch, pass our children through the fire?
Is the dollar only real? God and truth and right a dream?
Weighed against your lying ledgers must our manhood kick the beam?
O my God! for that free spirit, which of old in Boston town
Smote the Province House with terror, struck the crest of Andros down!
For another strong-voiced Adams in the city's streets to cry,
'Up for God and Massachusetts! Set your feet on Mammon's lie!
Perish banks and perish traffic, spin your cotton's latest pound,
But in Heaven's name keep your honor, keep the heart o' the Bay State sound!'
Where's the man for Massachusetts! Where's the voice to speak her free?
Where's the hand to light up bonfires from her mountains to the sea?
Beats her Pilgrim pulse no longer? Sits she dumb in her despair?
Has she none to break the silence? Has she none to do and dare?
O my God! for one right worthy to lift up her rushed shield,
And to plant again the Pine-Tree in her banner's tattered field!
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKAA |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101010101011101 1110101111010101 111110101110101 1001010101011101 101110101010001 101011111111111 11111010111011 1011101011100111 1110111011111110 1110111110101010 10101011010101 101110101101101 111111101110101 101011101011101 101011100010111 1110010111111 101010101110101 10101111010110111 10110101011101 101111101010101 101011101110001 111110101111101 11111110111011 011010110010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic octameter |
Characters | 1,568 |
Words | 294 |
Sentences | 26 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 24 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 51 |
Words per line (avg) | 12 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,235 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 290 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:30 min read
- 126 Views
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"The Pine Tree" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23165/the-pine-tree>.
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