The Leader
The sword fell down: I heard a knell;I thought that ease was best,And sullen men that buy and sellWere host: and I was guest.All unashamed I sat with swine,We shook the dice for war,The night was drunk with an evil wine--But she went on before.
She rode a steed of the sea-foam breed,All faery was her blade,And the armour on her tender limbsWas of the moonshine made.
By God that sends the master-maids,I know not whence she came,But the sword she bore to save the soulWent up like an altar flameWhere a broken race in a desert placeCall on the Holy Name.
We strained our eyes in the dim day-rise,We could not see them plain;But two dead men from Valmy fenRode at her bridle-rein.
I hear them all, my fathers call,I see them how they ride,And where had been that rout obsceneWas an army straight with pride.A hundred thousand marching men,Of squadrons twenty score,And after them all the guns, the guns,But she went on before.
Her face was like a king’s commandWhen all the swords are drawn.She stretched her arms and smiled at us,Her head was higher than the hills.She led us to the endless plains.We lost her in the dawn.
Words in this poem
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- armour n.
- Defensive arms for the body; any clothing or covering worn to protect one's person in battle. [OE. armure, fr. F. armure, OF. armeure, fr. L. armatura. See Armature.]
- moonshine n.
- The light of the moon.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Leader is in the public domain. This text is taken from Sonnets and Verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #60663; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Hilaire Belloc, The Leader, in Sonnets and Verse (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #60663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/belloc-sonnets-verse/the-leader.html, id L21654.
Form and metre
The Leader is 36 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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.
- 1 ABABCDCD knellA · bestB · sellA · guestB · swineC · warD · wineC · beforeD
- 2 -A-A breed · bladeA · limbs · madeA
- 3 -A-A-A maids · cameA · soul · flameA · place · nameA
- 4 -A-A rise · plainA · fen · reinA
- 5 -A-A-B-B call · rideA · obscene · prideA · men · scoreB · guns · beforeB
- 6 -A---A command · drawnA · us · hills · plains · dawnA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The sword fell down: I heard a knell; | 8 | ········ |
| I thought that ease was best, | 6 | ······ |
| And sullen men that buy and sell | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Were host: and I was guest. | 6 | ······ |
| All unashamed I sat with swine, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| We shook the dice for war, | 6 | ······ |
| The night was drunk with an evil wine-- | 8 | ······/· |
| But she went on before. | 6 | ······ |
| She rode a steed of the sea-foam breed, | 9 | ········· |
| All faery was her blade, | 6 | ······ |
| And the armour on her tender limbs | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| Was of the moonshine made. | 6 | ···/·· |
| By God that sends the master-maids, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I know not whence she came, | 6 | ······ |
| But the sword she bore to save the soul | 9 | ········· |
| Went up like an altar flame | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Where a broken race in a desert place | 10 | ··/˘···˘/· |
| Call on the Holy Name. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| We strained our eyes in the dim day-rise, | 9 | ··/······ |
| We could not see them plain; | 6 | ······ |
| But two dead men from Valmy fen | 8 | ········ |
| Rode at her bridle-rein. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I hear them all, my fathers call, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I see them how they ride, | 6 | ······ |
| And where had been that rout obscene | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Was an army straight with pride. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| A hundred thousand marching men, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Of squadrons twenty score, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And after them all the guns, the guns, | 9 | ········· |
| But she went on before. | 6 | ······ |
| Her face was like a king’s command | 8 | ······˘/ |
| When all the swords are drawn. | 6 | ······ |
| She stretched her arms and smiled at us, | 8 | ········ |
| Her head was higher than the hills. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| She led us to the endless plains. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| We lost her in the dawn. | 6 | ······ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.