Ode
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Track 21 on Poems
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Ode Lyrics
INSCRIBED TO W.H. CHANNING
Though loath to grieve
The evil time's sole patriot,
I cannot leave
My honied thought
For the priest's cant,
Or statesman's rant.
If I refuse
My study for their politique,
Which at the best is trick,
The angry Muse
Puts confusion in my brain.
But who is he that prates
Of the culture of mankind,
Of better arts and life?
Go, blindworm, go,
Behold the famous States
Harrying Mexico
With rifle and with knife!
Or who, with accent bolder,
Dare praise the freedom-loving mountaineer?
I found by thee, O rushing Contoocook!
And in thy valleys, Agiochook!
The jackals of the negro-holder.
Though loath to grieve
The evil time's sole patriot,
I cannot leave
My honied thought
For the priest's cant,
Or statesman's rant.
If I refuse
My study for their politique,
Which at the best is trick,
The angry Muse
Puts confusion in my brain.
But who is he that prates
Of the culture of mankind,
Of better arts and life?
Go, blindworm, go,
Behold the famous States
Harrying Mexico
With rifle and with knife!
Or who, with accent bolder,
Dare praise the freedom-loving mountaineer?
I found by thee, O rushing Contoocook!
And in thy valleys, Agiochook!
The jackals of the negro-holder.
The God who made New Hampshire
Taunted the lofty land
With little men;—
Small bat and wren
House in the oak:—
If earth-fire cleave
The upheaved land, and bury the folk,
The southern crocodile would grieve.
Virtue palters; Right is hence;
Freedom praised, but hid;
Funeral eloquence
Rattles the coffin-lid.
What boots thy zeal,
O glowing friend,
That would indignant rend
The northland from the south?
Wherefore? to what good end?
Boston Bay and Bunker Hill
Would serve things still;—
Things are of the snake.
The horseman serves the horse,
The neatherd serves the neat,
The merchant serves the purse,
The eater serves his meat;
'T is the day of the chattel,
Web to weave, and corn to grind;
Things are in the saddle,
And ride mankind.
Taunted the lofty land
With little men;—
Small bat and wren
House in the oak:—
If earth-fire cleave
The upheaved land, and bury the folk,
The southern crocodile would grieve.
Virtue palters; Right is hence;
Freedom praised, but hid;
Funeral eloquence
Rattles the coffin-lid.
What boots thy zeal,
O glowing friend,
That would indignant rend
The northland from the south?
Wherefore? to what good end?
Boston Bay and Bunker Hill
Would serve things still;—
Things are of the snake.
The horseman serves the horse,
The neatherd serves the neat,
The merchant serves the purse,
The eater serves his meat;
'T is the day of the chattel,
Web to weave, and corn to grind;
Things are in the saddle,
And ride mankind.
There are two laws discrete,
Not reconciled,—
Law for man, and law for thing;
The last builds town and fleet,
But it runs wild,
And doth the man unking.
'T is fit the forest fall,
The steep be graded,
The mountain tunnelled,
The sand shaded,
The orchard planted,
The glebe tilled,
The prairie granted,
The steamer built.
Let man serve law for man;
Live for friendship, live for love,
For truth's and harmony's behoof;
The state may follow how it can,
As Olympus follows Jove.
Yet do not I implore
The wrinkled shopman to my sounding woods,
Nor bid the unwilling senator
Ask votes of thrushes in the solitudes.
Every one to his chosen work;—
Foolish hands may mix and mar;
Wise and sure the issues are.
Round they roll till dark is light,
Sex to sex, and even to odd;—
The over-god
Who marries Right to Might,
Who peoples, unpeoples,—
He who exterminates
Races by stronger races,
Black by white faces,—
Knows to bring honey
Out of the lion;
Grafts gentlest scion
On pirate and Turk.
Not reconciled,—
Law for man, and law for thing;
The last builds town and fleet,
But it runs wild,
And doth the man unking.
'T is fit the forest fall,
The steep be graded,
The mountain tunnelled,
The sand shaded,
The orchard planted,
The glebe tilled,
The prairie granted,
The steamer built.
Let man serve law for man;
Live for friendship, live for love,
For truth's and harmony's behoof;
The state may follow how it can,
As Olympus follows Jove.
Yet do not I implore
The wrinkled shopman to my sounding woods,
Nor bid the unwilling senator
Ask votes of thrushes in the solitudes.
Every one to his chosen work;—
Foolish hands may mix and mar;
Wise and sure the issues are.
Round they roll till dark is light,
Sex to sex, and even to odd;—
The over-god
Who marries Right to Might,
Who peoples, unpeoples,—
He who exterminates
Races by stronger races,
Black by white faces,—
Knows to bring honey
Out of the lion;
Grafts gentlest scion
On pirate and Turk.
The Cossack eats Poland,
Like stolen fruit;
Her last noble is ruined,
Her last poet mute:
Straight, into double band
The victors divide;
Half for freedom strike and stand;—
The astonished Muse finds thousands at her side.
Like stolen fruit;
Her last noble is ruined,
Her last poet mute:
Straight, into double band
The victors divide;
Half for freedom strike and stand;—
The astonished Muse finds thousands at her side.
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- 1.Good-Bye
- 2.The Problem
- 3.To Rhea
- 4.The Visit
- 5.Uriel
- 7.The Sphinx
- 9.Mithridates
- 10.To J.W.
- 11.Destiny
- 12.Guy
- 13.Earth-Song
- 14.The Rhodora
- 15.The Humble-Bee
- 16.Berrying
- 17.The Snow-Storm
- 18.Woodnotes I
- 19.Woodnotes II
- 20.Monadnoc
- 21.Ode
- 22.Astraea
- 24.Compensation
- 25.Forbearance
- 26.The Park
- 27.Forerunners
- 28.Sursum Corda
- 29.Ode To Beauty
- 30.Give All To Love
- 32.To Ellen
- 33.To Eva
- 34.Lines
- 35.The Violet
- 36.The Amulet
- 38.Eros
- 39.Hermione
- 41.The Apology
- 42.Merlin I
- 43.Merlin II
- 44.Bacchus
- 45.Merops
- 46.The House
- 47.Saadi
- 48.Holidays
- 49.Xenophanes
- 50.The Day’s Ration
- 51.Blight
- 52.Musketaquid
- 53.Dirge
- 54.Threnody
- 55.May-Day
- 56.The Adirondacs
- 57.Nemesis
- 58.Fate
- 59.Freedom
- 60.Ode II
- 61.Boston Hymn
- 62.Voluntaries
- 63.Love And Thought
- 64.Una
- 65.Boston
- 66.Letters
- 67.Rubies
- 68.Merlin’s Song
- 69.The Test
- 70.Solution
- 71.Hymn
- 72.Nature I
- 73.Nature II
- 74.The Romany Girl
- 75.My Garden
- 77.The Titmouse
- 78.The Harp
- 79.Seashore
- 80.Song Of Nature
- 81.Two Rivers
- 82.Waldeinsamkeit
- 83.Terminus
- 85.April
- 87.Cupido
- 88.The Past
- 91.Experience
- 92.Compensation II
- 93.Politics
- 94.Heroism
- 95.Character
- 96.Culture
- 97.Friendship
- 98.Spiritual Laws
- 99.Beauty
- 100.Manners
- 101.Art
- 102.Unity
- 103.Worship
- 104.Prudence
- 105.Nature
- 106.The Informing Spirit
- 107.Circles
- 108.Intellect
- 109.Gifts
- 110.Promise
- 111.Caritas
- 112.Power
- 113.Wealth
- 114.Illusions
- 115.Quatrains
- 117.The Exile
- 118.From Hafiz
- 119.Epitaph
- 120.Friendship II
- 121.From Omar Khayyam
- 123.From Ibn Jemin
- 124.The Flute
- 125.To The Shah
- 126.To The Shah II
- 127.To The Shah III
- 129.The Poet (Poem)
- 131.Nature III
- 132.The Earth
- 133.The Heavens
- 134.Transition
- 135.The Garden
- 136.Birds
- 137.Water
- 138.Nahant
- 139.Sunrise
- 140.Night In June
- 141.Maia
- 142.Life
- 143.Rex
- 144.The Bohemian Hymn
- 145.Grace
- 146.Insight
- 147.Pan
- 148.Monadnoc From Afar
- 149.September
- 150.Eros II
- 151.October
- 152.Peter’s Field
- 153.Music
- 154.The Walk
- 155.Cosmos
- 156.The Miracle
- 157.The Waterfall
- 158.Walden
- 159.The Enchanter
- 161.Riches
- 162.Philosopher
- 163.Intellect II
- 164.Limits
- 166.The Exile II
- 167.The Bell
- 168.Thought
- 169.Prayer
- 170.To-Day
- 171.Fame
- 172.The Summons
- 173.The River
- 174.Good Hope
- 175.Lines To Ellen
- 176.Security
- 177.A Mountain Grave
- 178.A Letter
- 179.Hymn II
- 180.Self-Reliance (Poem)
- 181.Written In Naples
- 182.Written At Rome
- 183.Webster
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