Martial Elegy from the Greek of Tyrtæus
How glorious fall the valiant, sword in hand,In front of battle for their native land!But oh! what ills await the wretch that yields,A recreant outcast from his country’s fields!The mother whom he loves shall quit her home,An agèd father at his side shall roam;His little ones shall weeping with him go,And a young wife participate his woe;While scorned and scowled upon by every face,They pine for food, and beg from place to place.
Stain of his breed! dishonouring manhood’s form,All ills shall cleave to him:—Affliction’s stormShall blind him wandering in the vale of years,Till, lost to all but ignominious fears,He shall not blush to leave a recreant’s name.And children, like himself, inured to shame.
But we will combat for our father’s land,And we will drain the life-blood where we standTo save our children:—fight ye side by side,And serried close, ye men of youthful pride,Disdaining fear, and deeming light the costOf life itself in glorious battle lost.
Leave not our sires to stem the unequal fight,Whose limbs are nerved no more with buoyant might;Nor lagging backward, let the younger breastPermit the man of age (a sight unblessed)To welter in the combat’s foremost thrust,His hoary head dishevelled in the dust,And venerable bosom bleeding bare.
But youth’s fair form, though fallen, is ever fairAnd beautiful in death the boy appears,The hero boy, that dies in blooming years:In man’s regret he lives, and woman’s tears,More sacred than in life, and lovelier far,For having perished in the front of war.
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.]
- valiant a.
- Vigorous in body; strong; powerful; as, a valiant fencer. [OE. valiant, F. vaillant, OF. vaillant, valant, originally p. pr. of OF. & F. valoir to be worth, L. valere to be strong. See Wield, and cf. Avail, Convalesce, ]
- await v. t.
- To watch for; to look out for. [OF. awaitier, agaitier; (L. ad) + waitier, gaitier to watch, F. guetter. See Wait.]
- outcast a.
- Cast out; degraded. [Cf. Sw. utkasta to cast out.]
- 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,]
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- ignominious a.
- Marked with ignominy; in curring public disgrace; dishonorable; shameful. [L. ignominiosus: cf. F. ignominieux.]
- serried a.
- Crowded; compact; dense; pressed together. [See Serry.]
- lagging n.
- The clothing (esp., an outer, wooden covering), as of a steam cylinder, applied to prevent the radiation of heat; a covering of lags; -- called also deading and cleading.
- unblessed a.
- Not blest; excluded from benediction; hence, accursed; wretched. [Pref. un- not + blessed, blest.]
- welter v. i.
- To roll, as the body of an animal; to tumble about, especially in anything foul or defiling; to wallow. [Freq. of OE. walten to roll over, AS. wealtan; akin to LG. weltern, G. walzen to roll, to waltz, sich wälzen to welter, OHG. walzan to roll, Icel. velta, Dan. v]
- hoary a.
- White or whitish."The hoary willows."
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Martial Elegy from the Greek of Tyrtæus 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, Martial Elegy from the Greek of Tyrtæus, in The Pleasures of Hope, and Other Poems (1824), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59788, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/campbell-poems/martial-elegy-from-the-greek-of-tyrt-us.html, id L24469.
Form and metre
Martial Elegy from the Greek of Tyrtæus is 35 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 86% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AABBCCDDEE handA · landA · yieldsB · fieldsB · homeC · roamC · goD · woeD · faceE · placeE
- 2 AABBCC formA · stormA · yearsB · fearsB · nameC · shameC
- 3 AABBCC landA · standA · sideB · prideB · costC · lostC
- 4 AABBCC- fightA · mightA · breastB · unblessedB · thrustC · dustC · bare
- 5 -AAA-- fair · appearsA · yearsA · tearsA · far · war
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| How glorious fall the valiant, sword in hand, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| In front of battle for their native land! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| But oh! what ills await the wretch that yields, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| A recreant outcast from his country’s fields! | 11 | ·/˘˘/···/˘· |
| The mother whom he loves shall quit her home, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| An agèd father at his side shall roam; | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| His little ones shall weeping with him go, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And a young wife participate his woe; | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| While scorned and scowled upon by every face, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| They pine for food, and beg from place to place. | 10 | ·········· |
| Stain of his breed! dishonouring manhood’s form, | 10 | ····˘/˘/·· |
| All ills shall cleave to him:—Affliction’s storm | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Shall blind him wandering in the vale of years, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Till, lost to all but ignominious fears, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| He shall not blush to leave a recreant’s name. | 10 | ·········· |
| And children, like himself, inured to shame. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘/·· |
| But we will combat for our father’s land, | 10 | ···/˘·//˘· |
| And we will drain the life-blood where we stand | 10 | ·········· |
| To save our children:—fight ye side by side, | 10 | ··//˘····· |
| And serried close, ye men of youthful pride, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Disdaining fear, and deeming light the cost | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Of life itself in glorious battle lost. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Leave not our sires to stem the unequal fight, | 11 | ··/····˘/˘· |
| Whose limbs are nerved no more with buoyant might; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Nor lagging backward, let the younger breast | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Permit the man of age (a sight unblessed) | 10 | ˘/········ |
| To welter in the combat’s foremost thrust, | 10 | ·/˘··˘//·· |
| His hoary head dishevelled in the dust, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| And venerable bosom bleeding bare. | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/˘/˘· |
| But youth’s fair form, though fallen, is ever fair | 10 | ·····/˘·/· |
| And beautiful in death the boy appears, | 10 | ·/˘˘····˘/ |
| The hero boy, that dies in blooming years: | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| In man’s regret he lives, and woman’s tears, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| More sacred than in life, and lovelier far, | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| For having perished in the front of war. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
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