Rallying Song for Freedom in the North
Dishonored by the higher, but loved by all the low,--Say, is it not the pathway that the new has to go?By those who ought to guard it betrayed, oh yes, betrayed,--Say, is it not thus truth ever progress has made?
Some summer day beginning, a murmur in the grain,It grows to be a roaring through the forests amain,Until the sea shall bear it with thunder-trumpets' tone,Where nothing, nothing's heard but it alone, it alone.
With Northern allies warring we take the NorthernFor God and for our freedom--is the watchword we bring.That God, who gave us country and language, and all,We find Him in our doing, if we hear and heed His call.
That doing we will forward, we many, although weak,'Gainst all in fearless fighting, who the truth will not seek:--Some summer day beginning, a murmur in the grain,It goes now as a roaring through the forests amain.
'T will grow to be a storm ere men think that this can be,With voice of thunder sweeping o'er the infinite sea.What nation God's call follows, earth's greatest power shall show,And carry all before it, though it high stand or low.
Words in this poem
- pathway n.
- A footpath; a beaten track; any path or course. Also used figuratively.
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
- amain adv.
- With might; with full force; vigorously; violently; exceedingly. [Pref. a- + main. See 2d Main, n.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Rallying Song for Freedom in the North is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems and Songs, Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, the Arthur Hubbell Palmer translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Rallying Song for Freedom in the North, in Poems and Songs (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bjornson-poems-and-songs/rallying-song-for-freedom-in-the-north.html, id L29330.
Form and metre
Rallying Song for Freedom in the North is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is alexandrines, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%).
See other poems in alexandrines.
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 AABB lowA · goA · betrayedB · madeB
- 2 AABB grainA · amainA · toneB · aloneB
- 3 --AA northern · bring · allA · callA
- 4 AABB weakA · seekA · grainB · amainB
- 5 AABB beA · seaA · showB · lowB
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 alexandrines. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Dishonored by the higher, but loved by all the low,-- | 13 | ˘/˘··/˘······ |
| Say, is it not the pathway that the new has to go? | 13 | ·····/······· |
| By those who ought to guard it betrayed, oh yes, betrayed,-- | 13 | ·······˘/··˘/ |
| Say, is it not thus truth ever progress has made? | 12 | ······/˘/··· |
| Some summer day beginning, a murmur in the grain, | 13 | ·/˘·˘/˘·/˘··· |
| It grows to be a roaring through the forests amain, | 13 | ·····/˘··/˘˘/ |
| Until the sea shall bear it with thunder-trumpets' tone, | 13 | ········/˘/˘· |
| Where nothing, nothing's heard but it alone, it alone. | 13 | ·/˘/˘···˘/·˘/ |
| With Northern allies warring we take the Northern | 12 | ·/˘/˘/˘···/˘ |
| For God and for our freedom--is the watchword we bring. | 13 | ····//˘··/··· |
| That God, who gave us country and language, and all, | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| We find Him in our doing, if we hear and heed His call. | 13 | ····//······· |
| That doing we will forward, we many, although weak, | 13 | ·/˘··/˘·/˘··· |
| 'Gainst all in fearless fighting, who the truth will not seek:-- | 13 | ···/˘/˘······ |
| Some summer day beginning, a murmur in the grain, | 13 | ·/˘·˘/˘·/˘··· |
| It goes now as a roaring through the forests amain. | 13 | ·····/˘··/˘˘/ |
| 'T will grow to be a storm ere men think that this can be, | 14 | ·············· |
| With voice of thunder sweeping o'er the infinite sea. | 13 | ···/˘/˘··/˘˘· |
| What nation God's call follows, earth's greatest power shall show, | 13 | ·/˘··/˘·/˘/·· |
| And carry all before it, though it high stand or low. | 13 | ·/˘·········· |
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.