Of Subjection. From Proverbial Philosophy Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDCEFGHIJKALMN AOPQRASFTR IGTUVGTRGAIAWX GYGIZIA2OARFJGRB2H C2GD2E2WFTF2AG2H2I2G J2 K2RF2 GGG2L2GFM2ATGCRGN2RI GRFM2O2AGRP2Q2QGR2S2 T RGAQRAGJ2K2T2U2RV2W2 X2G AY2ACZ2QQGGRC2A3RTGR QB3AC3AS2GB3QRRQ QCRAQD3QQE3RF3GG2G G3AARQC2RH3GQQI3RQGJ 3K3AM2KQAFJ3RTL3CM3N 3QQQJ3FAGN2 TO3GQRN2RGRYJ3RP3RGR RTGC G| Law hath dominion over all things over universal mind and matter | A |
| For there are reciprocities of right which no creature can gainsay | B |
| Unto each was there added by its Maker in the perfect chain of being | C |
| Dependencies and sustentations accidents and qualities and powers | D |
| And each must fly forward in the curve unto which it was forced from the beginning | C |
| Each must attract and repel or the monarchy of Order is no more | E |
| Laws are essential emanations from the self poised character of God | F |
| And they radiate from that sun to the circling edges of creation | G |
| Verily the mighty Lawgiver hath subjected Himself unto laws | H |
| And God is the primal grand example of free unstrained obedience | I |
| His perfection is limited by right and cannot trespass into wrong | J |
| Because He hath established Himself as the fountain of only good | K |
| And in thus much is bounded that the evil hath He left unto another | A |
| And that dark other hath usurped the evil which Omnipotence laid down | L |
| Unto God there exist impossibilities for the True One cannot lie | M |
| Nor the Wise One wander from the track which He hath determined for Himself | N |
| - | |
| - | |
| For his will was purposed from eternity strong in the love of order | A |
| And that will altereth not as the law of the Medes and Persians | O |
| God is the origin of order and the first exemplar of his precept | P |
| For there is subordination of his Essence self guided unto holiness | Q |
| And there is subordination of his Persons in due procession of dignity | R |
| For the Son as a son is subject and to him doth the Spirit minister | A |
| But these things be mysteries to man he cannot reach nor fathom them | S |
| And ever must he speak in paradox when labouring to expound his God | F |
| For behold God is alone mighty in unshackled freedom | T |
| And with those wondrous Persons abideth eternal equality | R |
| - | |
| So then start ye from the fountain and follow the river of existence | I |
| For its current is bounded throughout by the banks of just subordination | G |
| Thrones and dominions and powers Archangels Cherubim and Seraphim | T |
| Angels and flaming ministers and breathing chariots and harps | U |
| For there are degrees in heaven and varied capabilities of bliss | V |
| And steps in the ladder of Intelligence and ranks in approaches to Perfection | G |
| Doubtless reverence is given as their due to the masters in wisdom | T |
| Doubtless there are who serve or a throne would have small glory | R |
| Regard now the universe of matter the substance of visible creation | G |
| Which of old with well observing truth the Greek hath surnamed Order | A |
| Where is there an atom out of place or a particle that yieldeth not obedience | I |
| Where is there a fragment that is free or one thing the equal of another | A |
| The chain is unbroken down to man and beyond him the links are perfect | W |
| But he standeth solitary sin a marvel of permitted chaos | X |
| - | |
| And shall this seeming error in the scale of due subordination | G |
| Be a spot of desert unreclaimed in the midst of the vineyard of the Lord | Y |
| Shall his presumptuous pride snap the safe tether of connexion | G |
| And his blind selfish folly refuse the burden of maintenance | I |
| O man thou art a creature boast not thyself above the law | Z |
| Think not of thyself as free thou art bound in the trammels of dependence | I |
| What is the sum of thy duty but obedience to righteous rule | A2 |
| To the great commanding oracle uttered by delegated organs | O |
| Thou canst not render homage to abstract Omnipresent Power | A |
| Save tlnougli the concrete symbol of visible ordained authority | R |
| Those who obey not man are oftenest found rebels against God | F |
| And seldom is the delegate so bold as to order what he knoweth to be wrong | J |
| Yet mark me proud gainsayer I say not obey unto sin | G |
| But where the Principal is silent take heed thou despise not the Deputy | R |
| And He that loveth order will bless thee for thy faith | B2 |
| If thou recognize his sanction in the powers that fashion human laws | H |
| - | |
| Thou the vicegerent of the Lord his high anointed image | C2 |
| Towards whom a good man's loyalty floweth from the heart of his religion | G |
| Thou whose deep responsibihties are fathomed by a nation's prayers | D2 |
| Whom wise men fear for while they love and envy thee nothing but thy virtues | E2 |
| From thy dizzy pinnacle of greatness remember thou also art a subject | W |
| And the throne of thine earthly glory is itself but the footstool of thy God | F |
| The homage thy kingdoms yield thee regard thou as yielded unto Him | T |
| And while girt with all the majesty of state consider thee the Lord's chief servant | F2 |
| So shalt thou prosper and be strong grafted on the strength of another | A |
| So shall thy virgin heart be happy in being humble | G2 |
| And thou shalt flourish as an oak the monarch of thine island forests | H2 |
| Whose deep dug roots are twisted around the stout ribs of the globe | I2 |
| That mocketh at the fury of the storm and rejoiceth in summer sunshine | G |
| Glad in the smiles of heaven and great in the stability of earth | J2 |
| - | |
| A ruler hath not power for himself neither is his pomp for his pride | K2 |
| But beneath the ermine of his office should he wear the rough hair cloth of humility | R |
| Nevertheless every way obey him so thou break not a higher commandment | F2 |
| - | |
| - | |
| For Nero was an evil king yet Paul prescribeth subjection | G |
| If tbe rulers of a nation be holy the Lord hath blessed that nation | G |
| If they be lewd and impious chastisement hath come upon that people | G2 |
| For the bitterest scourge of a land is ungodliness in them that govern it | L2 |
| And the guilt of the sons of Josiah drove Israel weeping into Babylon | G |
| Yet be thou resolute against them if they change the mandates of thy God | F |
| If they touch the ark of his covenant wherein all his mercies are enshrined | M2 |
| Be resolute but not rebellious lest thou be of the company of Korah | A |
| Set thy face against them as a flint but be not numbered with Abiram | T |
| Daniel nobly disobeyed but not from a spirit of sedition | G |
| And Azarias shouted from the furnace I will not bow down O KING | C |
| If truth must be sacrificed to unity then faithfulness were folly | R |
| If man must be obeyed before God the martyrs have bled in vain | G |
| Yet none of that blessed army reviled the rulers of the land | N2 |
| They were loud and bold against the sin but bent before the ensign of authority | R |
| Honesty scorning compromise walketh most suitably with Reverence | I |
| Otherwise righteous daring may show but as obstinate rebellion | G |
| Therefore suffer not thy censure to lack the savour of courtesy | R |
| And remember the mortal sinneth but the staff of his power is from God | F |
| Man thou hast a social spirit and art deeply indebted to thy kind | M2 |
| Therefore claim not all thy rights but yield for thine own advantage | O2 |
| Society is a cliam of obligations and its links must support each other | A |
| The branch can not but wither that is cut from the parent vine | G |
| Wouldst thou be a dweller in the woods and cast away the cords that bind thee | R |
| Seeking in thy bitterness or pride to be exiled from thy fellows | P2 |
| Behold the beasts shall hunt thee weak naked houseless outcast | Q2 |
| Disease and Death shall track thee out as bloodhounds in the wilderness | Q |
| Better to be vilest of the vile in the hated company of men | G |
| Than to live a solitary wretch dreading and wanting all things | R2 |
| Better to be chained to thy labour in the dusky thoroughfares of life | S2 |
| Than to reign monarch of Sloth in lonesome savage freedom | T |
| - | |
| Whence then cometh the doctrine that all should be equal and free | R |
| It is the lie that crowded hell when Seraphs flung away subjection | G |
| No man is his neighbour's equal for no two minds are similar | A |
| And accidents alike with qualities have every shade but sameness | Q |
| The lightest atom of difference shall destroy the nice balance of equality | R |
| And all things from without and from within make one man to differ from another | A |
| We are equal and free was the watchword that spirited the legions of Satan | G |
| We are equal and free is the double lie that entrappeth to him conscripts from earth | J2 |
| The messengers of that dark despot will pander to thy license and thy pride | K2 |
| And draw thee from the crowd where thou art safe to seize thee in the solitary desert | T2 |
| Woe unto him whose heart the syren song of Liberty hath charmed | U2 |
| Woe unto him whose mind is bewitched by her treacherous beauty | R |
| In mad zeal flingeth he away the fetters of duty and restraint | V2 |
| And yieldeth up the holocaust of self to that fair Idol of the Damned | W2 |
| No man hath freedom in aught save in that from which the wicked would be hindered | X2 |
| He is free toward God and good but to all else a bondman | G |
| - | |
| Thou art in a middle sphere to render and receive honour | A |
| If thy king commandeth obey and stand not in the way with rebels | Y2 |
| But if need be lay thy hand upon thy sword and fear not to smite a traitor | A |
| For the universe acquitteth thee with honour fighting in defence of thy king | C |
| If a thief break thy dwelling and thou take him it were sin in thee to let him go | Z2 |
| Yea though he pleadeth to thy mercy thou canst not spare him and be blameless | Q |
| For his guilt is not only against thee it is not thy monies or thy merchandize | Q |
| But he hath done damage to the Law which duty constraineth thee to sanction | G |
| Feast not thine appetite of vengeance remembering thou also art a man | G |
| But weep for the sad compulsion in which the chain of Providence hath bound thee | R |
| Mercy is not thine to give wilt thou steal another's privilege | C2 |
| Or send abroad among thy neighbours a felon whom impunity hath hardened | A3 |
| Remember the Roman father strong in his stern integrity | R |
| And let not thy slothful self indulgence make thee a conniver at the crime | T |
| Also if the knife of the murderer be raised against thee or thine | G |
| And thuough good providence and courage thou slay him that would have slain thee | R |
| Thou losest not a tittle of thy rectitude having executed sudden justice | Q |
| Still mayst thou walk among the blessed though thy hands be red with blood | B3 |
| For thyself thou art neither worse nor better but thy fellows should count thee their creditor | A |
| Thou hast manfully protected the right and the right is stronger for thy deed | C3 |
| Also in the rescuing of innocence fear not to smite the ravisher | A |
| What though he die at thy hand for a good name is better than the life | S2 |
| And if Phineas had everlasting praise in the matter of Salu's son | G |
| With how much greater honour standeth such a rescuer acquitted | B3 |
| Uphold the laws of thy country and fear not to fight in their defence | Q |
| But first be convinced in thy mind for herein the doubter sinneth | R |
| Above all things look thou well around if indeed stern duty forceth thee | R |
| To draw the sword of justice and stain it with the slaughter of thy fellows | Q |
| - | |
| She that lieth in thy bosom the tender wife of thy affections | Q |
| Must obey thee and be subject that evil drop not on thy dwelling | C |
| The child that is used to constraint feareth not more than he loveth | R |
| But give thy son his way he will hate thee and scorn thee together | A |
| The master of a well ordered home knoweth to be kind to his servants | Q |
| Yet he exacteth reverence and each one feareth at his post | D3 |
| There is nothing on earth so lowly but duty giveth it importance | Q |
| No station so degrading but it is ennobled by obedience | Q |
| Yea break stones upon the highway acknowledging the Lord in thy lot | E3 |
| Happy shalt thou be and honourable more than many childen of the mighty | R |
| Thou that despisest the outward forms beware thou lose not the inward spirit | F3 |
| For they are as words unto ideas as symbols to things unseen | G |
| Keep then the form that is good retain and do reverence to example | G2 |
| And in all things observe subordination for that is the whole duty of man | G |
| - | |
| A horse knoweth his rider be he confident or timid | G3 |
| And the fierce spirit of Bucephalus stoopeth unto none but Alexander | A |
| The tigress roused in the jungle by the prying spaniels of the fowler | A |
| Will quail of the eye of man so he assert his dignity | R |
| Nay the very ships those giant swans breastiug the mighty waters | Q |
| Roll in the trough or break the wave to the pilot's fear or courage | C2 |
| How much more shall man discerning the Fountain of authority | R |
| Bow to superior commands and make his own obeyed | H3 |
| And yet in travelling the world hast thou not often known | G |
| A gallant host led on to ruin by a feeble Xerxes | Q |
| Hast thou not often seen the wanton luxury of indolence | Q |
| Sullying with its sleepy mist the tarnished crown of headship | I3 |
| Alas for a thousand fathers whose indulgent sloth | R |
| Hath emptied the vial of confusion over a thousand homes | Q |
| Alas for the palaces and hovels that might have been nurseries for heaven | G |
| By hot intestine broils blighted into schools for hell | J3 |
| None knoweth his place yet all refuse to serve | K3 |
| None weareth the crown yet all usurp the sceptre | A |
| And perchance some fiercer spirit of natural nobility of mind | M2 |
| That needed but the kindness of constraint to have grown up great and good | K |
| Now the rich harvest of his heart choked by unweeded tares | Q |
| All bold to dare and do unchecked by wholesome fear | A |
| A scoffer about bigotry and priestcraft a rebel against government and God | F |
| And standard bearer of the turbulent leading on the sons of Belial | J3 |
| Such an one is king of that shall state head tyrant of the thirty | R |
| Brandishing the torch of discord in his village home | T |
| And the timid Eli of the house yon humble parish priest | L3 |
| Liveth in shame and sorrow fearing his own handywork | C |
| The mother heartstricken years agone hath dropped into an early grave | M3 |
| The silent sisters long to leave a home they cannot love | N3 |
| The brothers casting off restraint follow their wayward wills | Q |
| And the chance guest early departing blesseth his kind stars | Q |
| That on his humbler home hath brooded no domestic curse | Q |
| Yet is that curse the fruit wouldest thou the root of the evil | J3 |
| A kindness most unkind that hath always spared the rod | F |
| A weak and numbing indecision in the mind that should be master | A |
| A foolish love pregnant of hate that never frowned on sin | G |
| A moral cowardice of heart that never dared command | N2 |
| - | |
| A kingdom is a nest of families and a family a small kingdom | T |
| And the government of whole or part differeth in nothing but extent | O3 |
| The house where the master ruleth is strong in united subjection | G |
| And the only commandment with promise being honoured is a blessing to that house | Q |
| But and if he yieldeth up the reins it is weak in discordant anarchy | R |
| And the bonds of love and union melt away as ropes of sand | N2 |
| The realm that is ruled with vigour lacketh neither peace nor glory | R |
| It dreadeth not foes from without nor the sons of riot from within | G |
| But the meanness of temporizing fear robbeth a kingdom of its honour | R |
| And the weakness of indulgent sloth ravageth its bowels with discord | Y |
| The best of human governments is the patriarchal rule | J3 |
| The authorized supremacy of one the prescriptive subjection of many | R |
| Therefore the children of the east have thriven from age to age | P3 |
| Obeying even as a god the royal father of Cathay | R |
| Therefore to this our day the Rechabite wanteth not a man | G |
| But they stand before the Lord forsaking not the mandate of their sire | R |
| Therefore shall Magog among nations arise from his northern lair | R |
| And rend in the fury of his power the insurgent world beneath him | T |
| For the thunderbolt of concentrated strength can be hurled by the will of one | G |
| While the dissipated forces of many are harmless as summer lightning | C |
| - | |
| - | |
| Transcribed from Proverbial Philosophy by Mick Puttock August Spelling punctuation and grammer left mostly unchanged from the th edition | G |
Martin Farquhar Tupper
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation