Battle of the Baltic
Of Nelson and the North,Sing the glorious day’s renown,When to battle fierce came forthAll the might of Denmark’s crown,And her arms along the deep proudly shone;By each gun the lighted brand,In a bold determined hand,And the Prince of all the landLed them on.
Like leviathans afloat,Lay their bulwarks on the brine;While the sign of battle flewOn the lofty British line:It was ten of April morn by the chime;As they drifted on their path,There was silence deep as death;And the boldest held his breath,For a time.
But the might of England flushedTo anticipate the scene;And her van the fleeter rushedO’er the deadly space between.“Hearts of oak!” our captain cried; when each gunFrom its adamantine lipsSpread a death-shade round the ships,Like the hurricane eclipseOf the sun.
Again! again! again!And the havoc did not slack,Till a feeble cheer the DaneTo our cheering sent us back;—Their shots along the deep slowly boom:—Then ceased—and all is wail,As they strike the shattered sail;Or, in conflagration pale,Light the gloom.
Out spoke the victor then,As he hailed them o’er the wave;“Ye are brothers! ye are men!And we conquer but to save:—So peace instead of death let us bring;But yield, proud foe, thy fleet,With the crews, at England’s feet,And make submission meetTo our King.”
Then Denmark blessed our chief,That he gave her wounds repose;And the sounds of joy and griefFrom her people wildly rose,As death withdrew his shades from the day.While the sun looked smiling brightO’er a wide and woeful sight,Where the fires of funeral lightDied away.
Now joy, Old England, raise!For the tidings of thy might,By the festal cities’ blaze,While the wine-cup shines in light;And yet amidst that joy and uproar,Let us think of them that sleep,Full many a fathom deep,By thy wild and stormy steep.Elsinore!
Brave hearts! to Britain’s prideOnce so faithful and so true,On the deck of fame that died;—With the gallant good Riou:Soft sigh the winds of Heaven o’er their grave!While the billow mournful rollsAnd the mermaid’s song condoles,Singing glory to the soulsOf the brave!
Captain Riou, justly entitled the gallant and the good, by LordNelson when he wrote home his despatches.
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.]
- afloat adv.
- Borne on the water; floating; on board ship. [Pref. a- + float.]
- 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.]
- chime n.
- The harmonious sound of bells, or of musical instruments. [OE. chimbe, prop., cymbal, OF. cymbe, cymble, in a dialectic form, chymble, F. cymbale, L. cymbalum, fr. Gr. Cymbal.]
- rushed a.
- Abounding or covered with rushes.
- havoc n.
- Wide and general destruction; devastation; waste. [W. hafog devastation, havoc; or, if this be itself fr. E. havoc, cf. OE. havot, or AS. hafoc hawk, which is a cruel or rapacious bird, or F. hai, voux! a cry to]
- dane n.
- A native, or a naturalized inhabitant, of Denmark. Great Dane. [LL. Dani: cf. AS. Dene.]
- shots n.
- The refuse of cattle taken from a drove.
- conflagration n.
- A fire extending to many objects, or over a large space; a general burning.
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- festal a.
- Of or pertaining to a holiday or a feast; joyous; festive. [L. festum holiday, feast. See feast.]
- amidst prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- billow n.
- A great wave or surge of the sea or other water, caused usually by violent wind. [Cf. Icel. bylgja billow, Dan. bölge, Sw. bölja; akin to MHG. bulge billow, bag, and to E. bulge. See Bulge.]
- wrote v. i.
- To root with the snout. See 1st Root. [OE. wroten. See 1st Root.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Battle of the Baltic is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Thomas Campbell, Project Gutenberg ebook #59788; 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 Campbell, Battle of the Baltic, in The Pleasures of Hope, and Other Poems (1824), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59788, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/campbell-poems/battle-of-the-baltic.html, id L24404.
Form and metre
Battle of the Baltic is 74 lines in 9 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDDDC, complete in 5 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 ABAB-CCC- northA · renownB · forthA · crownB · shone · brandC · handC · landC · on
- 2 -A-AB-CCB afloat · brineA · flew · lineA · chimeB · path · deathC · breathC · timeB
- 3 ABABCDDDC flushedA · sceneB · rushedA · betweenB · gunC · lipsD · shipsD · eclipseD · sunC
- 4 ABABCDDDC againA · slackB · daneA · backB · boomC · wailD · sailD · paleD · gloomC
- 5 ABABCDDDC thenA · waveB · menA · saveB · bringC · fleetD · feetD · meetD · kingC
- 6 ABABCDDDC chiefA · reposeB · griefA · roseB · dayC · brightD · sightD · lightD · awayC
- 7 ABABCDDDC raiseA · mightB · blazeA · lightB · uproarC · sleepD · deepD · steepD · elsinoreC
- 8 A-A-BCCCB prideA · true · diedA · riou · graveB · rollsC · condolesC · soulsC · braveB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Of Nelson and the North, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Sing the glorious day’s renown, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| When to battle fierce came forth | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| All the might of Denmark’s crown, | 7 | ····/·· |
| And her arms along the deep proudly shone; | 10 | ···˘/··/˘· |
| By each gun the lighted brand, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| In a bold determined hand, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| And the Prince of all the land | 7 | ······· |
| Led them on. | 3 | ··· |
| Like leviathans afloat, | 7 | ·˘/˘˘˘/ |
| Lay their bulwarks on the brine; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| While the sign of battle flew | 7 | ····/˘· |
| On the lofty British line: | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| It was ten of April morn by the chime; | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| As they drifted on their path, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| There was silence deep as death; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And the boldest held his breath, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| For a time. | 3 | ··· |
| But the might of England flushed | 7 | ····/˘· |
| To anticipate the scene; | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| And her van the fleeter rushed | 7 | ······· |
| O’er the deadly space between. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| “Hearts of oak!” our captain cried; when each gun | 10 | ···//˘···· |
| From its adamantine lips | 7 | ······· |
| Spread a death-shade round the ships, | 7 | ······· |
| Like the hurricane eclipse | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Of the sun. | 3 | ··· |
| Again! again! again! | 6 | ˘/˘/˘/ |
| And the havoc did not slack, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Till a feeble cheer the Dane | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| To our cheering sent us back;— | 7 | ·//˘··· |
| Their shots along the deep slowly boom:— | 9 | ··˘/··/˘· |
| Then ceased—and all is wail, | 7 | ··˘···· |
| As they strike the shattered sail; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Or, in conflagration pale, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Light the gloom. | 3 | ··· |
| Out spoke the victor then, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| As he hailed them o’er the wave; | 7 | ······· |
| “Ye are brothers! ye are men! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And we conquer but to save:— | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| So peace instead of death let us bring; | 9 | ··˘/····· |
| But yield, proud foe, thy fleet, | 6 | ······ |
| With the crews, at England’s feet, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And make submission meet | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| To our King.” | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Then Denmark blessed our chief, | 7 | ·/··/˘· |
| That he gave her wounds repose; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| And the sounds of joy and grief | 7 | ······· |
| From her people wildly rose, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| As death withdrew his shades from the day. | 9 | ··˘/····· |
| While the sun looked smiling bright | 7 | ····/˘· |
| O’er a wide and woeful sight, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Where the fires of funeral light | 7 | ··/·/˘· |
| Died away. | 3 | ·˘/ |
| Now joy, Old England, raise! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| For the tidings of thy might, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| By the festal cities’ blaze, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| While the wine-cup shines in light; | 7 | ······· |
| And yet amidst that joy and uproar, | 9 | ··˘/···/· |
| Let us think of them that sleep, | 7 | ······· |
| Full many a fathom deep, | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| By thy wild and stormy steep. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Elsinore! | 3 | /˘· |
| Brave hearts! to Britain’s pride | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Once so faithful and so true, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| On the deck of fame that died;— | 7 | ······· |
| With the gallant good Riou: | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Soft sigh the winds of Heaven o’er their grave! | 9 | ·····/··· |
| While the billow mournful rolls | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| And the mermaid’s song condoles, | 7 | ··/···· |
| Singing glory to the souls | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Of the brave! | 3 | ··· |
| Captain Riou, justly entitled the gallant and the good, by Lord | 16 | /˘·/˘˘/˘·/˘····· |
| Nelson when he wrote home his despatches. | 10 | /˘········ |
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