At the End of the Day
There is no escape by the river,There is no flight left by the fen;We are compassed about by the shiverOf the night of their marching men.Give a cheer!For our hearts shall not give way.Here's to a dark to-morrow,And here's to a brave to-day!
The tale of their hosts is countless,And the tale of ours a score;But the palm is naught to the dauntless,And the cause is more and more.Give a cheer!We may die, but not give way.Here's to a silent morrow,And here's to a stout to-day!
God has said: "Ye shall fail and perish;But the thrill ye have felt to-nightI shall keep in my heart and cherishWhen the worlds have passed in night."Give a cheer!For the soul shall not give way.Here's to the greater to-morrowThat is born of a great to-day!
Now shame on the craven trucklerAnd the puling things that mope!We've a rapture for our bucklerThat outwears the wings of hope.Give a cheer!For our joy shall not give way.Here's in the teeth of to-morrowTo the glory of to-day!
Words in this poem
- compassed a.
- Rounded; arched.
- 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,]
- countless a.
- Incapable of being counted; not ascertainable; innumerable.
- dauntless a.
- Incapable of being daunted; undaunted; bold; fearless; intrepid.
- craven v. t.
- To make recreant, weak, spiritless, or cowardly.
- truckler n.
- One who truckles, or yields servilely to the will of another.
- puling n.
- A cry, as of a chicken,; a whining or whimpering.
- mope v. t.
- To make spiritless and stupid.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
At the End of the Day is in the public domain. This text is taken from More Songs From Vagabondia, Project Gutenberg ebook #18007; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Bliss Carman, At the End of the Day, in More Songs from Vagabondia (1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18007, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carman-vagabondia/at-the-end-of-the-day.html, id L24736.
Form and metre
At the End of the Day is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%).
See other poems in iambic 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 ABAB-C-C riverA · fenB · shiverA · menB · cheer · wayC · morrow · dayC
- 2 ABAB-C-C countlessA · scoreB · dauntlessA · moreB · cheer · wayC · morrow · dayC
- 3 ABAB-C-C perishA · nightB · cherishA · nightB · cheer · wayC · morrow · dayC
- 4 ABAB-C-C trucklerA · mopeB · bucklerA · hopeB · cheer · wayC · morrow · dayC
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| There is no escape by the river, | 9 | ···˘/··/˘ |
| There is no flight left by the fen; | 8 | ········ |
| We are compassed about by the shiver | 10 | ··/˘····/˘ |
| Of the night of their marching men. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Give a cheer! | 3 | ··· |
| For our hearts shall not give way. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Here's to a dark to-morrow, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And here's to a brave to-day! | 7 | ······· |
| The tale of their hosts is countless, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And the tale of ours a score; | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| But the palm is naught to the dauntless, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And the cause is more and more. | 7 | ······· |
| Give a cheer! | 3 | ··· |
| We may die, but not give way. | 7 | ······· |
| Here's to a silent morrow, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| And here's to a stout to-day! | 7 | ······· |
| God has said: "Ye shall fail and perish; | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| But the thrill ye have felt to-night | 8 | ········ |
| I shall keep in my heart and cherish | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| When the worlds have passed in night." | 8 | ·····˘·· |
| Give a cheer! | 3 | ··· |
| For the soul shall not give way. | 7 | ······· |
| Here's to the greater to-morrow | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| That is born of a great to-day! | 8 | ········ |
| Now shame on the craven truckler | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| And the puling things that mope! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| We've a rapture for our buckler | 9 | ··/˘·//˘˘ |
| That outwears the wings of hope. | 7 | ······· |
| Give a cheer! | 3 | ··· |
| For our joy shall not give way. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Here's in the teeth of to-morrow | 8 | ······/˘ |
| To the glory of to-day! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.