The Soldier’s Dream
Our bugles sang truce—for the night-cloud had lowered,And the sentinel stars set their watch in the sky;And thousands had sunk on the ground overpowered,The weary to sleep, and the wounded to die.
When reposing that night on my pallet of straw,By the wolf-scaring faggot that guarded the slain,At the dead of the night a sweet vision I saw,And thrice ere the morning I dreamt it again.
Methought from the battle-field’s dreadful array,Far, far I had roamed on a desolate track:’Twas Autumn,—and sunshine arose on the wayTo the home of my fathers, that welcomed me back.
I flew to the pleasant fields traversed so oftIn life’s morning march, when my bosom was youngI heard my own mountain-goats bleating aloft,And knew the sweet strain that the corn-reapers sung.
Then pledged we the wine-cup, and fondly I swore,From my home and my weeping friends never to partMy little ones kissed me a thousand times o’er,And my wife sobbed aloud in her fulness of heart,
Stay, stay with us,—rest, thou art weary and worn;And fain was their war-broken soldier to stay;—But sorrow returned with the dawning of morn,And the voice in my dreaming ear melted away.
Words in this poem
- pallet n.
- A small and mean bed; a bed of straw. [OE. paillet, F. paillet a heap of straw, fr. paille straw, fr. L. palea chaff; cf. Gr. pala straw, palava chaff. Cf. Paillasse.]
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- bleating a.
- Crying as a sheep does.
- fondly adv.
- Foolishly. Verstegan (1673).
- aloud adv.
- With a loud voice, or great noise; loudly; audibly. [Pref. a- + loud.]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Soldier’s Dream 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, The Soldier’s Dream, in The Pleasures of Hope, and Other Poems (1824), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59788, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/campbell-poems/the-soldier-s-dream.html, id L24437.
Form and metre
The Soldier’s Dream is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 -A-A lowered · skyA · overpowered · dieA
- 2 ABAB strawA · slainB · sawA · againB
- 3 ABAB arrayA · trackB · wayA · backB
- 4 ABAB oftA · youngB · aloftA · sungB
- 5 -A-A swore · partA · o'er · heartA
- 6 ABAB wornA · stayB · mornA · awayB
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 bugles sang truce—for the night-cloud had lowered, | 12 | //˘·······/˘ |
| And the sentinel stars set their watch in the sky; | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| And thousands had sunk on the ground overpowered, | 11 | ·/˘······˘/ |
| The weary to sleep, and the wounded to die. | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| When reposing that night on my pallet of straw, | 12 | ·/·˘····/˘·· |
| By the wolf-scaring faggot that guarded the slain, | 12 | ···/˘/˘·/˘·· |
| At the dead of the night a sweet vision I saw, | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| And thrice ere the morning I dreamt it again. | 11 | ····/˘···˘/ |
| Methought from the battle-field’s dreadful array, | 11 | ˘/··/˘·/˘˘/ |
| Far, far I had roamed on a desolate track: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| ’Twas Autumn,—and sunshine arose on the way | 11 | ·/˘·/·˘/··· |
| To the home of my fathers, that welcomed me back. | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| I flew to the pleasant fields traversed so oft | 11 | ····/˘·˘/·· |
| In life’s morning march, when my bosom was young | 11 | ··/˘···/˘·· |
| I heard my own mountain-goats bleating aloft, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘˘/ |
| And knew the sweet strain that the corn-reapers sung. | 11 | ········/˘· |
| Then pledged we the wine-cup, and fondly I swore, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| From my home and my weeping friends never to part | 11 | ·····/˘·/·· |
| My little ones kissed me a thousand times o’er, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| And my wife sobbed aloud in her fulness of heart, | 12 | ····˘/··/˘·· |
| Stay, stay with us,—rest, thou art weary and worn; | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| And fain was their war-broken soldier to stay;— | 11 | ·····/˘/˘·· |
| But sorrow returned with the dawning of morn, | 11 | ·/˘˘/··/˘·· |
| And the voice in my dreaming ear melted away. | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘˘/ |
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