Stanzas on the Battle of Navarino
Hearts of oak that have bravely delivered the brave,And uplifted old Greece from the brink of the grave,’Twas the helpless to help, and the hopeless to save,That your thunderbolts swept o’er the brine;And as long as yon sun shall look down on the waveThe light of your glory shall shine.
For the guerdon ye sought with your bloodshed and toil,Was it slaves, or dominion, or rapine, or spoil?No! your lofty emprize was to fetter and foilThe uprooter of Greece’s domain!When he tore the last remnant of food from her soil,Till her famished sank pale as the slain!
Yet, Navarin’s heroes! does Christendom breedThe base hearts that will question the fame of your deedAre they men?—let ineffable scorn be their meed,And oblivion shadow their graves!—Are they women?—to Turkish serails let them speed!And be mothers of Mussulman slaves.
Abettors of massacre! dare ye deploreThat the death-shriek is silenced on Hellas’s shore?That the mother aghast sees her offspring no moreBy the hand of Infanticide grasped?And that stretched on yon billows distained by their goreMissolonghi’s assassins have gasped?
Prouder scene never hallowed war’s pomp to the mind,Than when Christendom’s pennons wooed social the wind,And the flower of her brave for the combat combined,Their watch-word, humanity’s vow;—Not a sea-boy that fought in that cause, but mankindOwes a garland to honour his brow!
Nor grudge, by our side, that to conquer or fall,Came the hardy rude Russ, and the high-mettled Gaul;For whose was the genius, that planned at its call,Where the whirlwind of battle should roll?All were brave! but the star of success over allWas the light of our Codrington’s soul.
That star of the day-spring, regenerate Greek!Dimmed the Saracen’s moon, and struck pallid his cheek;In its first flushing morning thy Muses shall speakWhen their lore and their lutes they reclaim:And the first of their songs from Parnassus’s peakShall be “Glory to Codrington’s name!”
Words in this poem 16
- bravely adv.
- In a brave manner; courageously; gallantly; valiantly; splendidly; nobly.
- brink n.
- The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge, as of a river or pit; a verge; a border; as, the brink of a chasm. Also Fig. [Dan. brink edge, verge; akin to Sw. brink declivity, hill, Icel. brekka; cf. LG. brink a grassy hill, W. bryn hill, bryncyn hillock.]
- 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,]
- guerdon n.
- A reward; requital; recompense; -- used in both a good and a bad sense. [OF. guerdon, guerredon, LL. widerdonum (influenced by L. donum gift, cf. Donation ), fr. OHG. widarl; widar again, against (G. wider wieder) + lon reward, G. lo]
- tore n.
- The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring. Mortimer. [Probably from the root of tear; cf. W. tór a break, cut, tóri to break, cut.]
- christendom n.
- The profession of faith in Christ by baptism; hence, the Christian religion, or the adoption of it. [AS. cristend; cristen a Christian + -dom.]
- meed v. t.
- To reward; to repay. Waytt.
- oblivion n.
- The act of forgetting, or the state of being forgotten; cessation of remembrance; forgetfulness. [L. oblivio, akin to oblivisci to forget: cf. OF. oblivion.]
- mussulman n.
- A Mohammedan; a Moslem. [Ar. muslimin, pl. of muslim: cf. F. & Sp. musulman. See Moslem.]
- massacre n.
- The killing of a considerable number of human beings under circumstances of atrocity or cruelty, or contrary to the usages of civilized people; as, the massacre on St. Bartholomew's Day. [F., fr. LL. mazacrium; cf. Prov. G. metzgern, metzgen, to kill cattle, G. metzger a butcher, and LG. matsken to cut, hew, OHG. meizan to cut, Goth. máitan.]
- deplore v. t.
- To feel or to express deep and poignant grief for; to bewail; to lament; to mourn; to sorrow over. [L. deplorare; de- + plorare to cry out, wail, lament; prob. akin to pluere to rain, and to E. flow: cf. F. déplorer. Cf. Flow.]
- infanticide n.
- The murder of an infant born alive; the murder or killing of a newly born or young child; child murder. [L. infanticidium child murder; infans, - antis, child + caedere to kill: cf. F. infanticide. See Infant, and Homicide.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- russ n.
- A Russian, or the Russians.
- regenerate v. t.
- To generate or produce anew; to reproduce; to give new life, strength, or vigor to.
- parnassus n.
- A mountain in Greece, sacred to Apollo and the Muses, and famous for a temple of Apollo and for the Castalian spring. Grass of Parnassus. (Bot.) See under Grass, and Parnassia.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Stanzas on the Battle of Navarino 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, Stanzas on the Battle of Navarino, in The Pleasures of Hope, and Other Poems (1824), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59788, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/campbell-poems/stanzas-on-the-battle-of-navarino.html, id L24447.
Form and metre
Stanzas on the Battle of Navarino is 42 lines in 7 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AAABAB. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in anapaestic 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 AAABAB braveA · graveA · saveA · brineB · waveA · shineB
- 2 AAABAB toilA · spoilA · foilA · domainB · soilA · slainB
- 3 AAABAB breedA · deedA · meedA · gravesB · speedA · slavesB
- 4 AAABAB deploreA · shoreA · moreA · graspedB · goreA · gaspedB
- 5 AAABAB mindA · windA · combinedA · vowB · mankindA · browB
- 6 AAABAB fallA · gaulA · callA · rollB · allA · soulB
- 7 AAABAB greekA · cheekA · speakA · reclaimB · peakA · nameB
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 anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Hearts of oak that have bravely delivered the brave, | 12 | ·····/˘˘/˘·· |
| And uplifted old Greece from the brink of the grave, | 12 | ·/˘˘········ |
| ’Twas the helpless to help, and the hopeless to save, | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| That your thunderbolts swept o’er the brine; | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| And as long as yon sun shall look down on the wave | 12 | ············ |
| The light of your glory shall shine. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| For the guerdon ye sought with your bloodshed and toil, | 12 | ··/˘····/··· |
| Was it slaves, or dominion, or rapine, or spoil? | 12 | ····˘/˘·/˘·· |
| No! your lofty emprize was to fetter and foil | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| The uprooter of Greece’s domain! | 9 | ·····/˘˘/ |
| When he tore the last remnant of food from her soil, | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Till her famished sank pale as the slain! | 9 | ········· |
| Yet, Navarin’s heroes! does Christendom breed | 11 | ····/˘·/˘˘· |
| The base hearts that will question the fame of your deed | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Are they men?—let ineffable scorn be their meed, | 12 | ····˘/˘˘···· |
| And oblivion shadow their graves!— | 9 | ·˘/˘˘/··· |
| Are they women?—to Turkish serails let them speed! | 12 | ··/˘·/˘····· |
| And be mothers of Mussulman slaves. | 9 | ··/˘·/˘˘· |
| Abettors of massacre! dare ye deplore | 11 | ····/˘˘··˘/ |
| That the death-shriek is silenced on Hellas’s shore? | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| That the mother aghast sees her offspring no more | 12 | ··/˘˘/··/··· |
| By the hand of Infanticide grasped? | 9 | ····˘/˘·· |
| And that stretched on yon billows distained by their gore | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Missolonghi’s assassins have gasped? | 9 | ····˘/˘·· |
| Prouder scene never hallowed war’s pomp to the mind, | 12 | /˘·/˘/˘····· |
| Than when Christendom’s pennons wooed social the wind, | 12 | ··/˘˘···/˘·· |
| And the flower of her brave for the combat combined, | 12 | ··/·····˘/˘/ |
| Their watch-word, humanity’s vow;— | 8 | ···˘/˘˘· |
| Not a sea-boy that fought in that cause, but mankind | 12 | ··········// |
| Owes a garland to honour his brow! | 9 | ··/˘·/˘·· |
| Nor grudge, by our side, that to conquer or fall, | 12 | ···/˘···/˘·· |
| Came the hardy rude Russ, and the high-mettled Gaul; | 12 | ··/˘·····/˘· |
| For whose was the genius, that planned at its call, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Where the whirlwind of battle should roll? | 9 | ··/··/˘·· |
| All were brave! but the star of success over all | 12 | ·······˘/··· |
| Was the light of our Codrington’s soul. | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| That star of the day-spring, regenerate Greek! | 11 | ······˘/˘·· |
| Dimmed the Saracen’s moon, and struck pallid his cheek; | 12 | ··/˘˘···/˘·· |
| In its first flushing morning thy Muses shall speak | 12 | ···/˘/˘·/˘·· |
| When their lore and their lutes they reclaim: | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| And the first of their songs from Parnassus’s peak | 12 | ········/˘˘· |
| Shall be “Glory to Codrington’s name!” | 9 | ··/˘····· |
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