Poem- "A Poem for Children with Thoughts on Death"

[Ms. Knarr]

A Poem for Children with Thoughts on Death By Jupiter Hammon b. 1711



I

O Ye young and thoughtless youth,

Come seek the living God,

The scriptures are a sacred truth,

Ye must believe the word.

Eccl. xii. 1.



II

Tis God alone can make you wise,

His wisdom’s from above,

He fills the soul with sweet supplies

By his redeeming love.

Prov. iv. 7.



III

Remember youth the time is short,

Improve the present day

And pray that God may guide your thoughts,

And teach your lips to pray.

Psalm xxx. 9.



IV

To pray unto the most high God,

And beg restraining grace,

Then by the power of his word

You’l see the Saviour’s face.



V

Little children they may die,

Turn to their native dust,

Their souls shall leap beyond the skies,

And live among the just.



VI

Like little worms they turn and crawl,

And gasp for every breath.

The blessed Jesus sends his call,

And takes them to his rest.



VII

Thus the youth are born to die,

The time is hastening on,

The Blessed Jesus rends the sky,

And makes his power known.

Psalm ciii. 15.



VIII

Then ye shall hear the angels sing

The trumpet give a sound,

Glory, glory to our King,

The Saviour’s coming down.

Matth. xxvi. 64.



IX

Start ye saints from dusty beds,

And hear a Saviour call,

Twas a Jesus Chirst that died and bled,

And thus preserv’d thy soul.



X

This the portion of the just,

Who lov’d to serve the Lord,

Their bodies starting from the dust,

Shall rest upon their God.



XI

They shall join that holy word,

That angels constant sing,

Glory, glory to the Lord,

Hallelujahs to our King.



XII

Thus the Saviour will appear,

With guards of heavenly host,

Those blessed Saints, shall then declare,

Tis Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Rev. i. 7, 8.



XIII

Then shall ye hear the trumpet sound,

The graves give up their dead,

Those blessed saints shall quick awake,

And leave their dusty beds.

Matth. xxvii. 51, 52.



XIV

Then shall you hear the trumpet sound,

And rend the native sky,

Those bodies starting from the ground,

In the twinkling of an eye.

I Cor. xv. 51, 52, 53, 54.



XV

There to sing the praise of God,

And join the angelic train,

And by the power of his word,

Unite together again.



XVI

Where angels stand for to admit

Their souls at the first word,

Cast sceptres down at Jesus feet

Crying holy holy Lord.



XVII

Now glory be unto our God

All praise be justly given,

Ye humble souls that love the Lord

Come seek the joys of Heaven.



Hartford, January 1, 1782.

[Abigail Dolan]

Hi this is Abbey I hope some one posts on this because its my First Post.

1) I think the poem is definitely about how we should praise and love God for he is the Almighty Lord who saved us. The author seems to be very spiritual and thinks we should connect closely and adore God as our Savior. The author also says that even though we are young, because it's for the young, we must listen to Him in scriptures because life is short. It goes on to talk about angels and Jesus calling us and how we are all going to be with God one day so you should praise him now.

2) I enjoyed the piece very much especially they way the poem began bouncing off your tongue because of the short flowing rhyme scheme. It made me feel sort of spiritual and enlightened almost like 'Yes I want to go praise God now'. It was inspiring. I'm not sure I understood all of it but it was, overall, a good poem.

Question 1: The author wrote beneath some of the stanzas book, chapter, and verse in the bible. Why do you think that is?

Question 2: The author sounds very spiritual and connected to God. Do you think it's possible the author was a minister of some sort?

Question 3: The title of the Poem is 'A Poem for Children with Thoughts on Death'. This in mind do you believe that the author was attempting to cheer up or enlighten the young people in their community so they did not fear death?

Question 4: Twice in the Poem (In line 4 and 8) the author mentions Saints rising from dusty beds. What do you think he could mean by this?

Abbey, don't forget to sign in when you post. You can post as a guest, but it will be easier for you to keep track of your posts!-Ms. Knarr

[rosemariefreschi]

1. Abby I agree that author wants us to praise God but i think he wants us to praise him through living. Our time on earth may be short or it may be long, we don't and will never know, so we must live each day to the fullest. I think the author definatly wanted to get across the point that we should not be afraid of when our time to leave this world and go onto the next arrives. We should feel comfortable for the saints and Jesus will be there to guide us. However, he also wants us to know that although we should be living life we must remember to praise God for each day we have and to not forget he shed his son's blood for us in love.
2. I enjoyed this piece because of the fact that it was very original. I have yet to see a poem that resembles this one at all. Also like Abby said the rhyme scheme allowed the to just roll of the tongue and for it to have a type of flow. I too felt that although I got the overall concept there were some lines that did confuse me.
3. (answering Abby's 3) I completely believe in the fact that the author was trying to help the young people in his community not fear death. He wanted to enlighten them that although death is scary the saints and Jesus are there for us throughout it. Also he probably wanted them to understand that if we want that after life with him in heaven we must praise and love him on earth.
(my question) What time do you think the author is talking abut when he says that the saints will raise and so will those from their graves?

[abbyjameson]

1. I agree with both Abbey and Roe. The author really wants to embed it in our brain that our time on Earth is very short, and we should look to God and praise him for the time we have because He is who we meet once we die. The author wants us to praise God for the little amount of time we have on Earth because it is a gift, however, to not be afraid to die because your life to come will be not come with hardships.
2. I did like the rhythm and rhyme the poem had to it, like abbey said, it rolled off your tongue, it gave it a beat. However, I did not like the poem becasue it seemed kind of contradictory and confusing at parts. For example, reading the first half of the poem seemed to be about praising God for our time on Earth and then the second half was more sorrowful about the time we had. Maybe I just interpreted or misunderstood the poem when it came to that point, but I couldn't fully grasp it becasue I became confused at the end.
3. (answer to Roe's question) This may seem a little out there, but kind of merging with Abbey's question about "dusty beds" I think he may be talking about our ascension into Heaven.

[abbyjameson]

(Forgot to post my question, sorry!) At first, the author talks about how we need to live life to its fullest on Earth and to be grateful for what is to come in our future, but then, he contradicts himself later in the poem; was there a specific point to this poem or was he kind of rambling because he contradicts himself?

[colleenpoling]

1. "A Poem for Children with Thoughts on Death" really has an overall positive meaning for the readers. I believe this poem emphasizes that the God we individually praise keeps us going and we should look up to only that God for he has all answers. I agree with Abbey and Roe because our lives here on Earth are short and we must praise God because he has done everything for us to be here and we will one day meet him again. God gave us this world to positively take advantage of even when facing the hardships.

2. Overall, i very much enjoyed this poem. Its meaning really spoke to me and made me re think how to better my relationship with Earth and God. It quoted verses from the bible and religious readings and that truly impacted the main reason backing it up with God's words. This is an up beat positive poem with great life lessons that are deep within the words. I liked the rhyming and rhythm of this poem and the flowing stanzas made it very nice to read.

3.(Response to Abby J's Question) I believe there was a specific point to this poem of living your life to the fullest and reaching for our goals in the future. When he contradicted himself I believe it was to emphasizes we must not take advantage of what we are giving. God had to sacrifice so much so that each of us could have what we have today and we cannot forget that. Once and a while well experience a challenge but we must not forget God above and we must think about all of the good in life as well.

My question:
1. Do you believe the author of this poem was also trying to tell us about our life after death? And what we have to look forward to that far into the future?

[dannyreilly]

I agree with Abbey, Roe, and Colleen. This poem stresses a few key concepts. One that Jesus is our savior, two that our time on Earth is sacred and short, and three that after life on Earth we get to enjoy eternaly life in heaven. The poem also uses specific quotes from the Bibly to support the author's opinion.

I really liked the poem. Of course I believe the message that Jupiter is conveying but I loved the way quotes from certain books of the Bible were used. I also enjoyed the rhyming that was used, I feel that kept it interesting.

(To Colleen) I think that is exactly what the author is trying to say. While the poem starts off saying to live life to the fullest it continuously stresses that there is a better life after and that is truly what we look forward to.
(My question) The whole poem there is a similar rhyme scheme "ABAB" but towards the end it kinds of slips, do you think this was intentional or happened by accident?

[bradoconnor]

This poem is filled with spiritual and religious undertones." A Poem for Children with Thoughts on Death" is a great poem in which it acts as a mental boost to the reader if they are feeling down. It also gives life meaning and shows how God is always with us no matter how far we stray from him throughout our lives. No matter what we do, God will be there, and we must praise him for that. We live in a material world and it is easy for us to forget who put us on this world and who or true God is. We must try our hardest to praise the one and only God who put us on this Earth In. Although this poem never mentions the Catholic God specifically, it definitely exemplifies a higher being of some kind.

This poem was awesome and acted as a spiritual boost for me. I can now read this poem when I am feeling down and will immediately feel better about my life.

Answering Abby's second question, Although it is possible that the author was a minister, I believe that the author went through a hard time as a kid, hence the title, and was saved by God, and is now praising God by writing about him.

My Question, In Line 6 the author describes children as "little worms", is he/she trying to say that children are helpless without God or are they just smaller being than God?

[mikeriga]

1.) I totally agree with everyone that has posted so far about this poem, but I just want to take it a step farther now. The overall meaning of this poem is to awaken young minds on the Truth of Jesus's message. The poem is to show kids the beauty, the power, and the love of God, and how and why to stay close to him. Jupiter Hammon in stanza three talks about how vital it is to stay close to God, because we are the youth that will lead to the country someday. Hammon notices this, she picks up on how she will perish eventually and also her generation, but there will always be a younger generation. With this poem Hammon tries to leave the youth with the message that people die, but their faith never does. This is the reason why she references many bible passages.

2.) My opinion on this work is that it is an important piece of literature, one that should be regarded highly of. I believe it has a powerful message behind it that will onlly encourage people to live in the present and look towards the future. Death is seen as a top fear, but after reading this poem it shows the beauty of death and Christianity. The way that the poem was written I think played a major role in how it impacts in a person. Each stanza has a small and impacting message, and when all of them add up it creates an amazing poem. I really enjoyed this poem because it has a beautiful message which is the Truth.

3.) (Answering Colleen's question) I believe the author was trying to talk about how important it is to strengthen your faith with the Lord before you die. Jupiter Hammon did mention life after death vaguely, but she did this only to reinforce how important it is to become one with God so you can enter heaven with him and all of the saints.

4.) (My question) Do you think the author is or was ever afraid of death? If so, what makes you think so?

[thomashaldeman]

1. I agree with Abby's original first post. I think that the author definetly wants us to center our lives around God, because he is our "Savior." I also believe that the author wants us to look to God whenever we have doubts or questions in our lives. Finally, I liked that the author stressed that our time on this earth is short, so make the best of it while you can.
2. Overall, I liked the poem. It had a good theme, because it relates to every human being. I also liked the rhyme scheme because it kept you engaged with the poem. It made me think for a minute about my relationship with God.
3. To answer Brad's question, I believe that the author is trying to say that the "little worms" are like the human beings. None of us can ever be close to God, and our lives mean nothing without direction from him. Jupiter wanted us to question our relationship with God, and try to make it stronger.
My question: Do you think Jupiter Hammon led a very religious life, or do you think she just wrote about being religious?