# Hymn explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Voltairine de Cleyre.

## What happens

A hymn written at the request of a Christian Science friend, expressing a wish for peace and unity with the divine, though the author disclaims it as representing his own beliefs, which see the world as a scheme of mutual murder without justice or God.

## Themes in this chapter

### Faith and Doubt

The hymn is presented as a wish for belief in peace and divine unity, while the author admits his own inability to hold such faith due to his perception of a world without justice or God.

### Suffering and Transformation

The hymn calls for laying down burdens and stanching the heart's bleeding, suggesting a transformation through ascent to peace.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The narrator expresses a personal wish for beliefs of peace and divine unity, contrasting with his own inexorable capacity for seeing reality as a vast scheme of mutual murder.

## Key lines

> I am at peace—no storm can ever touch me; On my clear heights the sunshine only falls; Far, far below glides the phantom voice of sorrows, In peace-lifted light the Silence only calls.

I have reached a state of calm where nothing can disturb me; I am above all troubles, and only peace and silence call to me.

_The opening lines describe an idealized state of serene detachment from sorrow._

> Lay down the burden;—stanch the heart’s sad bleeding; Be ye at peace, for know that Ye are God!

Set down your troubles and stop your heart from grieving; be calm, because you are divine.

_A central exhortation of the hymn, urging the listener to find peace in the realization of their own divinity._

> Ye are at one, and bound in Him forever, Ev’n as the wave is bound in the great sea; Never to drift beyond, below Him, never! Whole as God is, so, even so, are ye.

You are united with God eternally, like a wave is part of the ocean; you can never be separated from Him, and you are as complete as God is.

_The closing lines affirm a pantheistic unity of the soul with the divine._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_24_se/chapters/hymn
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_24_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_24_se/chapters