Peace
Halt! ye Legions, sheathe your Steel:Blood grows precious; shed no more:Cease your toils; your wounds to healLo! beams of Mercy reach the shore!From Realms of everlasting lightThe favour'd guest of Heaven is come:Prostrate your Banners at the sight,And bear the glorious tidings home.
The plunging corpse with half-clos'd eyes,No more shall stain th' unconscious brine;Yon pendant gay, that streaming flies,Around its idle Staff shall twine.Behold! along th' etherial skyHer beams o'er conquering Navies spread;Peace! Peace! the leaping Sailors cry,With shouts that might arouse the dead.
Then forth Britannia's thunder pours;A vast reiterated sound!From Line to Line the Cannon roars,And spreads the blazing joy around.Return, ye brave! your Country calls;Return; return, your task is done:While here the tear of transport falls,To grace your Laurels nobly won.
Albion Cliffs--from age to age,That bear the roaring storms of Heav'n,Did ever fiercer Warfare rage?Was ever Peace more timely given?Wake! sounds of Joy: rouse, generous Isle;Let every patriot bosom glow.Beauty, resume thy wonted smile,And, Poverty, thy cheerful brow.
Boast, Britain, of thy glorious Guests;Peace, Wealth, and Commerce, all thine own:Still on contented Labour restsThe basis of a lasting Throne.Shout, Poverty! 'tis Heaven that saves;Protected Wealth, the chorus raise:Ruler of War, of Winds, and Waves,Accept a prostrate Nation's praise.
Words in this poem
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- corpse n.
- A human body in general, whether living or dead; -- sometimes contemptuosly. [OF. cors (sometimes written corps), F. corps, L. corpus; akin to AS. hrif womb. See Midriff, and cf. Corse, Corselet, Corps, Cuerpo.]
- 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,]
- streaming a.
- Sending forth streams.
- nobly adv.
- Of noble extraction; as, nobly born or descended.
- albion n.
- An ancient name of England, still retained in poetry. [Prob. from the same root as Gael. alp a height or hill. "It may have been bestowed on the land lying behind the white cliffs visible from the coast of Gaul. Alb]
- generous a.
- Of honorable birth or origin; highborn. [F. généreux, fr. L. generous of noble birth, noble, excellent, magnanimous, fr. genus birth, race: cf. It. generoso. See 2d Gender.]
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- resume n.
- A summing up; a condensed statement; an abridgment or brief recapitulation. [F. See Resume.]
- wonted a.
- Accustomed; customary; usual.
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Peace is in the public domain. This text is taken from Rural Tales, Ballads, and Songs, Project Gutenberg ebook #9093; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Robert Bloomfield, Peace, in Rural Tales, Ballads and Songs (1802), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9093, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bloomfield-tales/peace.html, id L09662.
Form and metre
Peace is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 10% 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.
- 1 ABABCDCD steelA · moreB · healA · shoreB · lightC · comeD · sightC · homeD
- 2 ABABCDCD eyesA · brineB · fliesA · twineB · skyC · spreadD · cryC · deadD
- 3 ABABCDCD poursA · soundB · roarsA · aroundB · callsC · doneD · fallsC · wonD
- 4 A-A-B-B- ageA · heav'n · rageA · given · isleB · glow · smileB · brow
- 5 ABABCDCD guestsA · ownB · restsA · throneB · savesC · raiseD · wavesC · praiseD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Halt! ye Legions, sheathe your Steel: | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Blood grows precious; shed no more: | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Cease your toils; your wounds to heal | 7 | ······· |
| Lo! beams of Mercy reach the shore! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| From Realms of everlasting light | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| The favour'd guest of Heaven is come: | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Prostrate your Banners at the sight, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| And bear the glorious tidings home. | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘· |
| The plunging corpse with half-clos'd eyes, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| No more shall stain th' unconscious brine; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Yon pendant gay, that streaming flies, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Around its idle Staff shall twine. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Behold! along th' etherial sky | 8 | ˘/˘/···· |
| Her beams o'er conquering Navies spread; | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘· |
| Peace! Peace! the leaping Sailors cry, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| With shouts that might arouse the dead. | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Then forth Britannia's thunder pours; | 9 | ··˘/˘˘/˘· |
| A vast reiterated sound! | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘· |
| From Line to Line the Cannon roars, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And spreads the blazing joy around. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Return, ye brave! your Country calls; | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Return; return, your task is done: | 8 | ˘/˘/···· |
| While here the tear of transport falls, | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| To grace your Laurels nobly won. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Albion Cliffs--from age to age, | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| That bear the roaring storms of Heav'n, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Did ever fiercer Warfare rage? | 8 | ·/˘/˘/·· |
| Was ever Peace more timely given? | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Wake! sounds of Joy: rouse, generous Isle; | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Let every patriot bosom glow. | 10 | ·/˘˘/˘˘/˘· |
| Beauty, resume thy wonted smile, | 8 | /˘˘/·/˘· |
| And, Poverty, thy cheerful brow. | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Boast, Britain, of thy glorious Guests; | 9 | ·/˘··/˘˘· |
| Peace, Wealth, and Commerce, all thine own: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Still on contented Labour rests | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| The basis of a lasting Throne. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Shout, Poverty! 'tis Heaven that saves; | 9 | ·/˘˘·/˘·· |
| Protected Wealth, the chorus raise: | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Ruler of War, of Winds, and Waves, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Accept a prostrate Nation's praise. | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
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.