The Wounded Hussar
Alone to the banks of the dark-rolling DanubeFair Adelaide hied when the battle was o’er:—“Oh, whither,” she cried, “hast thou wandered, my lover?Or here dost thou welter and bleed on the shore?
“What voice did I hear? ’twas my Henry that sighed!”All mournful she hastened, nor wandered she far,When bleeding, and low, on the heath she descried,By the light of the moon, her poor wounded Hussar!
From his bosom that heaved, the last torrent was streaming,And pale was his visage, deep marked with a scar!And dim was that eye, once expressively beaming,That melted in love, and that kindled in war!
How smit was poor Adelaide’s heart at the sight!How bitter she wept o’er the victim of war!“Hast thou come, my fond Love, this last sorrowful night,To cheer the lone heart of your wounded Hussar?”
“Thou shalt live,” she replied, “Heaven’s mercy relievingEach anguishing wound, shall forbid me to mourn!”“Ah, no! the last pang of my bosom is heaving!No light of the morn shall to Henry return!
“Thou charmer of life, ever tender and true!Ye babes of my love, that await me afar!”His faltering tongue scarce could murmur adieu,When he sunk in her arms—the poor wounded Hussar!
To him, whose loyal, brave, and gentle heart,Fulfilled the hero’s and the patriot’s part,—Whose charity, like that which Paul enjoined,Was warm, beneficent, and unconfined,—This stone is reared: to public duty true,The seaman’s friend, the father of his crew—Mild in reproof, sagacious in command,He spread fraternal zeal throughout his band,And led each arm to act, each heart to feel,What British valour owes to Britain’s weal.These were his public virtues:—but to traceHis private life’s fair purity and grace,To paint the traits that drew affection strongFrom friends, an ample and an ardent throng,And, more, to speak his memory’s grateful claimOn her who mourns him most, and bears his name—O’ercomes the trembling hand of widowed grief,O’ercomes the heart, unconscious of reliefSave in religion’s high and holy trust,Whilst placing their memorial o’er his dust.
Words in this poem 18
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- 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]
- hussar n.
- Originally, one of the national cavalry of Hungary and Croatia; now, one of the light cavalry of European armies. [Hung. huszár, from husz twenty, because under King Matthais I., in the fifteenth century, every twenty houses were to furnish one horse soldier; cf. G. husar, F]
- streaming a.
- Sending forth streams.
- visage n.
- The face, countenance, or look of a person or an animal; -- chiefly applied to the human face. [F. visage, from L. visus a seeing, a look, fr. videre, visum, to see. See Vision.]
- smit
- 3d. pers. sing. pres. of Smite.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- 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,]
- 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.]
- charmer n.
- One who charms, or has power to charm; one who uses the power of enchantment; a magician. Deut. xviii. 11.
- await v. t.
- To watch for; to look out for. [OF. awaitier, agaitier; (L. ad) + waitier, gaitier to watch, F. guetter. See Wait.]
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- faltering a.
- Hesitating; trembling.
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- reproof n.
- Refutation; confutation; contradiction. [OE. reproef. See Proof, Reprove.]
- fraternal a.
- Pf, pertaining to, or involving, brethren; becoming to brothers; brotherly; as, fraternal affection; a fraternal embrace. [F. fraternel, LL. fraternalis, fr. L. fraternus, fr. frater brother. See Brother.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Wounded Hussar 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 Wounded Hussar, in The Pleasures of Hope, and Other Poems (1824), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59788, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/campbell-poems/the-wounded-hussar-2.html, id L24413.
Form and metre
The Wounded Hussar is 44 lines in 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%).
See 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.
- 2 A-A- sighedA · far · descriedA · hussar
- 3 A-A- streamingA · scar · beamingA · war
- 4 A-A- sightA · war · nightA · hussar
- 5 A-A- relievingA · mourn · heavingA · return
- 6 A-A- trueA · afar · adieuA · hussar
- 7 AA--BBCCDDEEFFGGHHII heartA · partA · enjoined · unconfined · trueB · crewB · commandC · bandC · feelD · wealD · traceE · graceE · strongF · throngF · claimG · nameG · griefH · reliefH · trustI · dustI
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Alone to the banks of the dark-rolling Danube | 12 | ˘/······/˘/˘ |
| Fair Adelaide hied when the battle was o’er:— | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| “Oh, whither,” she cried, “hast thou wandered, my lover? | 12 | ·/˘····/˘·/˘ |
| Or here dost thou welter and bleed on the shore? | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| “What voice did I hear? ’twas my Henry that sighed!” | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| All mournful she hastened, nor wandered she far, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| When bleeding, and low, on the heath she descried, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| By the light of the moon, her poor wounded Hussar! | 12 | ········/˘/˘ |
| From his bosom that heaved, the last torrent was streaming, | 13 | ··/˘····/˘·/˘ |
| And pale was his visage, deep marked with a scar! | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| And dim was that eye, once expressively beaming, | 13 | ···········/˘ |
| That melted in love, and that kindled in war! | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| How smit was poor Adelaide’s heart at the sight! | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| How bitter she wept o’er the victim of war! | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| “Hast thou come, my fond Love, this last sorrowful night, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| To cheer the lone heart of your wounded Hussar?” | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| “Thou shalt live,” she replied, “Heaven’s mercy relieving | 13 | ····˘//˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Each anguishing wound, shall forbid me to mourn!” | 10 | ·/˘··˘/··· |
| “Ah, no! the last pang of my bosom is heaving! | 12 | ·······/˘·/˘ |
| No light of the morn shall to Henry return! | 11 | ·······/˘˘/ |
| “Thou charmer of life, ever tender and true! | 10 | ·/˘··//˘·· |
| Ye babes of my love, that await me afar!” | 11 | ······˘/·˘/ |
| His faltering tongue scarce could murmur adieu, | 10 | ·/˘···/˘˘/ |
| When he sunk in her arms—the poor wounded Hussar! | 12 | ········/˘/˘ |
| To him, whose loyal, brave, and gentle heart, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Fulfilled the hero’s and the patriot’s part,— | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| Whose charity, like that which Paul enjoined, | 10 | ·/˘˘····˘/ |
| Was warm, beneficent, and unconfined,— | 10 | ···˘/˘··˘/ |
| This stone is reared: to public duty true, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| The seaman’s friend, the father of his crew— | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Mild in reproof, sagacious in command, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| He spread fraternal zeal throughout his band, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| And led each arm to act, each heart to feel, | 10 | ·········· |
| What British valour owes to Britain’s weal. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| These were his public virtues:—but to trace | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| His private life’s fair purity and grace, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| To paint the traits that drew affection strong | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| From friends, an ample and an ardent throng, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And, more, to speak his memory’s grateful claim | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| On her who mourns him most, and bears his name— | 10 | ·········· |
| O’ercomes the trembling hand of widowed grief, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| O’ercomes the heart, unconscious of relief | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Save in religion’s high and holy trust, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Whilst placing their memorial o’er his dust. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
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