Monody on the Death of Wendell Phillips
One by one they goInto the unknown dark--Star-lit brows of the brave,Voices that drew men's souls.Rich is the land, O Death!Can give you dead like our dead!--Such as he from whose handThe magic web of romanceSlipt, and the art was lost!Such as he who erewhile--The last of the Titan brood--With his thunder the Senate shook;Or he who, beside the Charles,Untoucht of envy or hate,Tranced the world with his song;Or that other, that gray-eyed seerWho in pastoral Concord waysWith Plato and Hafiz walked.
Not of these was the manWhose wraith, through the mists of night,Through the shuddering wintry stars,Has passed to eternal morn.Fit were the moan of the seaAnd the clashing of cloud on cloudFor the passing of that soul!
Ever he faced the storm!No weaver of rare romance,No patient framer of laws,No maker of wondrous rhyme,No bookman wrapt in his dream.His was the voice that rangIn the fight like a bugle-call,And yet could be tender and lowAs when, on a night in June,The hushed wind sobs in the pines.His was the eye that flashedWith a sabre's azure gleam,Pointing to heights unwon!
Not for him were these daysOf clerkly and sluggish calm--To the petrel the swooping gale!Austere he seemed, but the heartsOf all men beat in his breast;No fetter but galled his wrist,No wrong that was not his own.What if those eloquent lipsCurled with the old-time scorn?What if in needless hoursHis quick hand closed on the hilt?'Twas the smoke from the well-won fieldsThat clouded the veteran's eyes.A fighter this to the end!
Ah, if in coming timesSome giant evil arise,And Honor falter and pale,His were a name to conjure with!God send his like again!
Words in this poem
- erewhile adv.
- Some time ago; a little while before; heretofore.
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- wraith n.
- An apparition of a person in his exact likeness, seen before death, or a little after; hence, an apparition; a specter; a vision; an unreal image. [Scot. wraith, warth; probably originally, a guardian angel, from Icel. vörthr a warden, guardian, akin to E. ward. See Ward a guard.]
- wintry a.
- Suitable to winter; resembling winter, or what belongs to winter; brumal; hyemal; cold; stormy; wintery. [AS. wintrig.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- framer n.
- One who frames; as, the framer of a building; the framers of the Constitution.
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- bookman n.
- A studious man; a scholar.
- clerkly adv.
- In a scholarly manner.
- needless a.
- Having no need.
- fighter n.
- One who fights; a combatant; a warrior. [AS. feohtere.]
- falter v. t.
- To thrash in the chaff; also, to cleanse or sift, as barley.
- conjure v. t.
- To call on or summon by a sacred name or in solemn manner; to implore earnestly; to adjure. [F. conjurer, fr. L. conjurare to swear together, to conspire; con- + jurare to swear. See Jury.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Monody on the Death of Wendell Phillips is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Sisters' Tragedy, with Other Poems, Lyrical and Dramatic, Project Gutenberg ebook #595; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Monody on the Death of Wendell Phillips, in The Sisters' Tragedy, with Other Poems (1891), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #595, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/aldrich-poems/monody-on-the-death-of-wendell-phillips.html, id L10758.
Form and metre
Monody on the Death of Wendell Phillips is 57 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.9 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 30% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 3 ----A------A- storm · romance · laws · rhyme · dreamA · rang · call · low · june · pines · flashed · gleamA · unwon
- 4 ---------A--A- days · calm · gale · hearts · breast · wrist · own · lips · scorn · hoursA · hilt · fields · eyesA · end
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| One by one they go | 5 | ····· |
| Into the unknown dark-- | 6 | ···˘/· |
| Star-lit brows of the brave, | 6 | ······ |
| Voices that drew men's souls. | 6 | /˘···· |
| Rich is the land, O Death! | 6 | ······ |
| Can give you dead like our dead!-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Such as he from whose hand | 6 | ······ |
| The magic web of romance | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Slipt, and the art was lost! | 6 | ······ |
| Such as he who erewhile-- | 8 | ········ |
| The last of the Titan brood-- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| With his thunder the Senate shook; | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Or he who, beside the Charles, | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Untoucht of envy or hate, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Tranced the world with his song; | 6 | ······ |
| Or that other, that gray-eyed seer | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Who in pastoral Concord ways | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘· |
| With Plato and Hafiz walked. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Not of these was the man | 6 | ······ |
| Whose wraith, through the mists of night, | 7 | ······· |
| Through the shuddering wintry stars, | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘· |
| Has passed to eternal morn. | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Fit were the moan of the sea | 7 | ······· |
| And the clashing of cloud on cloud | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| For the passing of that soul! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Ever he faced the storm! | 6 | /˘···· |
| No weaver of rare romance, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| No patient framer of laws, | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| No maker of wondrous rhyme, | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| No bookman wrapt in his dream. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| His was the voice that rang | 6 | ······ |
| In the fight like a bugle-call, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And yet could be tender and low | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| As when, on a night in June, | 7 | ······· |
| The hushed wind sobs in the pines. | 7 | ······· |
| His was the eye that flashed | 6 | ······ |
| With a sabre's azure gleam, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Pointing to heights unwon! | 6 | /˘···· |
| Not for him were these days | 6 | ······ |
| Of clerkly and sluggish calm-- | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| To the petrel the swooping gale! | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Austere he seemed, but the hearts | 7 | ˘/····· |
| Of all men beat in his breast; | 7 | ······· |
| No fetter but galled his wrist, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| No wrong that was not his own. | 7 | ······· |
| What if those eloquent lips | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Curled with the old-time scorn? | 6 | ······ |
| What if in needless hours | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| His quick hand closed on the hilt? | 7 | ······· |
| 'Twas the smoke from the well-won fields | 8 | ········ |
| That clouded the veteran's eyes. | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘· |
| A fighter this to the end! | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Ah, if in coming times | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Some giant evil arise, | 7 | ·/˘/˘˘/ |
| And Honor falter and pale, | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| His were a name to conjure with! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| God send his like again! | 6 | ····˘/ |
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