Stanzas on the Threatened Invasion 1803
Our bosoms we’ll bare for the glorious strife,And our oath is recorded on high,To prevail in the cause that is dearer than life,Or crushed in its ruins to die!Then rise, fellow freemen, and stretch the right hand,And swear to prevail in your dear native land!
’Tis the home we hold sacred is laid to our trust—God bless the green Isle of the brave!Should a conqueror tread on our forefathers’ dust,It would rouse the old dead from their grave!Then rise, fellow freemen, and stretch the right hand,And swear to prevail in your dear native land!
In a Briton’s sweet home shall a spoiler abide,Profaning its loves and its charms?Shall a Frenchman insult the loved fair at our side?To arms! oh, my Country, to arms!Then rise, fellow freemen, and stretch the right hand,And swear to prevail in your dear native land!
Shall a tyrant enslave us, my countrymen!—No!His head to the sword shall be given—A death-bed repentance be taught the proud foe,And his blood be an offering to Heaven!Then rise, fellow freemen, and stretch the right hand,And swear to prevail in your dear native land!
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.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- 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,]
- spoiler n.
- One who spoils; a plunderer; a pillager; a robber; a despoiler.
- frenchman n.
- A native or one of the people of France.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Stanzas on the Threatened Invasion 1803 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 Threatened Invasion 1803, 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-threatened-invasion-1803.html, id L24433.
Form and metre
Stanzas on the Threatened Invasion 1803 is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 ABABCC strifeA · highB · lifeA · dieB · handC · landC
- 2 ABABCC trustA · braveB · dustA · graveB · handC · landC
- 3 ABABCC abideA · charmsB · sideA · armsB · handC · landC
- 4 A-A-BB noA · given · foeA · heaven · handB · landB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Our bosoms we’ll bare for the glorious strife, | 10 | //˘····/˘· |
| And our oath is recorded on high, | 10 | ·/˘··˘/˘·· |
| To prevail in the cause that is dearer than life, | 12 | ·˘/·····/˘·· |
| Or crushed in its ruins to die! | 9 | ··˘··/˘·· |
| Then rise, fellow freemen, and stretch the right hand, | 11 | ··/˘/˘····· |
| And swear to prevail in your dear native land! | 11 | ···˘/···/˘· |
| ’Tis the home we hold sacred is laid to our trust— | 12 | ·····/˘···/· |
| God bless the green Isle of the brave! | 8 | ········ |
| Should a conqueror tread on our forefathers’ dust, | 11 | ··/˘··//·˘· |
| It would rouse the old dead from their grave! | 9 | ········· |
| Then rise, fellow freemen, and stretch the right hand, | 11 | ··/˘/˘····· |
| And swear to prevail in your dear native land! | 11 | ···˘/···/˘· |
| In a Briton’s sweet home shall a spoiler abide, | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘/ |
| Profaning its loves and its charms? | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Shall a Frenchman insult the loved fair at our side? | 12 | ··/˘/·····/· |
| To arms! oh, my Country, to arms! | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Then rise, fellow freemen, and stretch the right hand, | 11 | ··/˘/˘····· |
| And swear to prevail in your dear native land! | 11 | ···˘/···/˘· |
| Shall a tyrant enslave us, my countrymen!—No! | 11 | ··/˘˘/··/˘· |
| His head to the sword shall be given— | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| A death-bed repentance be taught the proud foe, | 11 | ···˘/˘····· |
| And his blood be an offering to Heaven! | 11 | ·····/˘˘·/˘ |
| Then rise, fellow freemen, and stretch the right hand, | 11 | ··/˘/˘····· |
| And swear to prevail in your dear native land! | 11 | ···˘/···/˘· |
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