A War Eclogue
The Scene a desolated Tract in La Vendée. FAMINEis discovered lying on the ground; to her enterFIRE and SLAUGHTER.
Fire. No! no! no!Spirits hear what spirits tell:'Twill make an holiday in Hell.No! no! no!Myself, I named him once below,And all the souls, that damned be,Leaped up at once in anarchy,Clapped their hands and danced for glee.They no longer heeded me;But laughed to hear Hell's burning raftersUnwillingly re-echo laughters!No! no! no!Spirits hear what spirits tell:'Twill make an holiday in Hell!
Fam. Whisper it, sister! so and so!In the dark hint, soft and slow.
Slau. Letters four do form his name-And who sent you?
Slau. He came by stealth, and unlocked myden,And I have drunk the blood since thenOf thrice three hundred thousand men.
Slau. The same! the same!Letters four do form his name.He let me loose, and cried Halloo!To him alone the praise is due.
Fam. Thanks, sister, thanks! the men have bled,Their wives and their children faint for bread.I stood in a swampy field of battle;With bones and skulls I made a rattle,To frighten the wolf and carrion-crowAnd the homeless dog--but they would not go.So off I flew: for how could I bearTo see them gorge their dainty fare?I heard a groan and a peevish squall,And through the chink of a cottage-wall--Can you guess what I saw there?
Fam. A baby beat its dying mother:I had starved the one and was starving the other!
Fam. The same! the same!Letters four do form his name.He let me loose, and cried Halloo!To him alone the praise is due.
Fire. Sisters! I from Ireland came!Hedge and corn-fields all on flame,I triumph'd o'er the setting sun!And all the while the work was done,On as I strode with my huge strides,I flung back my head and I held my sides,It was so rare a piece of funTo see the sweltered cattle runWith uncouth gallop through the night,Scared by the red and noisy light!By the light of his own blazing cotWas many a naked Rebel shot:The house-stream met the flame and hissed,While crash! fell in the roof, I wist,On some of those old bed-rid nurses,That deal in discontent and curses.
Fire. The same! the same!Letters four do form his name.He let me loose, and cried Halloo!To him alone the praise is due.
All. He let us loose, and cried Halloo!How shall we yield him honour due?
Fam. Wisdom comes with lack of food.I'll gnaw, I'll gnaw the multitude,Till the cup of rage o'erbrim:They shall seize him and his brood--
Fire. O thankless beldames and untrue!And is this all that you can doFor him, who did so much for you?Ninety months he, by my troth!Hath richly catered for you both;And in an hour would you repayAn eight years' work?--Away! away!I alone am faithful! ICling to him everlastingly.
Words in this poem
- famine n.
- General scarcity of food; dearth; a want of provisions; destitution. [F. famine, fr. L. fames hunger; cf. Gr. hani loss, lack, ha to leave.]
- damned a.
- Sentenced to punishment in a future state; condemned; consigned to perdition.
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
- stealth n.
- The act of stealing; theft. [OE. staple. See Steal, v. t.]
- swampy a.
- Consisting of swamp; like a swamp; low, wet, and spongy; as, swampy land.
- homeless a.
- Destitute of a home. [AS.hamleas.]
- dainty n.
- Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in anything. [OE. deinie, dainte, deintie, deyntee, OF. deintié delicacy, orig., dignity, honor, fr. L. dignitas, fr. dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Dignity.]
- rebel a.
- Pertaining to rebels or rebellion; acting in revolt; rebellious; as, rebel troops. [F. rebelle, fr. L. rebellis. See Rebel, v. t.]
- 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,]
- 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.]
- thankless a.
- Not acknowledging favors; not expressing thankfulness; unthankful; ungrateful.
- troth n.
- Belief; faith; fidelity. [A variant of truth. See Truth.]
- everlastingly adv.
- In an everlasting manner.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A War Eclogue is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Coleridge, Project Gutenberg ebook #8208; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, A War Eclogue, in Poems of Coleridge (1796–1817), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8208, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coleridge-poems/a-war-eclogue.html, id L00376.
Form and metre
A War Eclogue is 81 lines in 14 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 77% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 syllables. 12 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 16% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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.
- 2 ABBAAC-CCDDABB noA · tellB · hellB · noA · belowA · beC · anarchy · gleeC · meC · raftersD · laughtersD · noA · tellB · hellB
- 3 AA soA · slowA
- 5 -AAA my · denA · thenA · menA
- 6 AABB sameA · nameA · hallooB · dueB
- 7 AABBCCDDEED bledA · breadA · battleB · rattleB · crowC · goC · bearD · fareD · squallE · wallE · thereD
- 8 AA motherA · otherA
- 9 AABB sameA · nameA · hallooB · dueB
- 10 AABBCCBBDDEEFFGG cameA · flameA · sunB · doneB · stridesC · sidesC · funB · runB · nightD · lightD · cotE · shotE · hissedF · wistF · nursesG · cursesG
- 11 AABB sameA · nameA · hallooB · dueB
- 12 AA hallooA · dueA
- 13 AA-A foodA · multitudeA · o'erbrim · broodA
- 14 AAABBCC-- untrueA · doA · youA · trothB · bothB · repayC · awayC · i · everlastingly
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The Scene a desolated Tract in La Vendée. FAMINE | 12 | ···/˘·····/˘ |
| is discovered lying on the ground; to her enter | 13 | ·˘/˘/˘·····/˘ |
| FIRE and SLAUGHTER. | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Fire. No! no! no! | 5 | /˘··· |
| Spirits hear what spirits tell: | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| 'Twill make an holiday in Hell. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| No! no! no! | 3 | ··· |
| Myself, I named him once below, | 8 | ·/······ |
| And all the souls, that damned be, | 8 | ······˘· |
| Leaped up at once in anarchy, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Clapped their hands and danced for glee. | 8 | ·˘······ |
| They no longer heeded me; | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| But laughed to hear Hell's burning rafters | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Unwillingly re-echo laughters! | 9 | ˘/˘˘·/˘/˘ |
| No! no! no! | 3 | ··· |
| Spirits hear what spirits tell: | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| 'Twill make an holiday in Hell! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Fam. Whisper it, sister! so and so! | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| In the dark hint, soft and slow. | 7 | ······· |
| Slau. Letters four do form his name- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And who sent you? | 4 | ···· |
| Slau. He came by stealth, and unlocked my | 9 | ······˘/· |
| den, | 1 | · |
| And I have drunk the blood since then | 8 | ········ |
| Of thrice three hundred thousand men. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Slau. The same! the same! | 5 | ····· |
| Letters four do form his name. | 7 | /˘····· |
| He let me loose, and cried Halloo! | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To him alone the praise is due. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Fam. Thanks, sister, thanks! the men have bled, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Their wives and their children faint for bread. | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| I stood in a swampy field of battle; | 10 | ····/˘··/˘ |
| With bones and skulls I made a rattle, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| To frighten the wolf and carrion-crow | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| And the homeless dog--but they would not go. | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| So off I flew: for how could I bear | 9 | ········· |
| To see them gorge their dainty fare? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I heard a groan and a peevish squall, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And through the chink of a cottage-wall-- | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Can you guess what I saw there? | 7 | ······· |
| Fam. A baby beat its dying mother: | 10 | ··/˘··/˘/˘ |
| I had starved the one and was starving the other! | 12 | ·······/˘·/˘ |
| Fam. The same! the same! | 5 | ····· |
| Letters four do form his name. | 7 | /˘····· |
| He let me loose, and cried Halloo! | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To him alone the praise is due. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Fire. Sisters! I from Ireland came! | 8 | //˘··/˘· |
| Hedge and corn-fields all on flame, | 7 | ······· |
| I triumph'd o'er the setting sun! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And all the while the work was done, | 8 | ········ |
| On as I strode with my huge strides, | 8 | ········ |
| I flung back my head and I held my sides, | 10 | ·········· |
| It was so rare a piece of fun | 8 | ········ |
| To see the sweltered cattle run | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| With uncouth gallop through the night, | 8 | ·///˘··· |
| Scared by the red and noisy light! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| By the light of his own blazing cot | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Was many a naked Rebel shot: | 8 | ·/·/˘/˘· |
| The house-stream met the flame and hissed, | 8 | ········ |
| While crash! fell in the roof, I wist, | 8 | ········ |
| On some of those old bed-rid nurses, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| That deal in discontent and curses. | 9 | ···˘˘/·/˘ |
| Fire. The same! the same! | 6 | /˘···· |
| Letters four do form his name. | 7 | /˘····· |
| He let me loose, and cried Halloo! | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To him alone the praise is due. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| All. He let us loose, and cried Halloo! | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| How shall we yield him honour due? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Fam. Wisdom comes with lack of food. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I'll gnaw, I'll gnaw the multitude, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Till the cup of rage o'erbrim: | 7 | ······· |
| They shall seize him and his brood-- | 7 | ······· |
| Fire. O thankless beldames and untrue! | 9 | /·/˘···˘/ |
| And is this all that you can do | 8 | ········ |
| For him, who did so much for you? | 8 | ········ |
| Ninety months he, by my troth! | 7 | /˘····· |
| Hath richly catered for you both; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And in an hour would you repay | 8 | ···/··˘/ |
| An eight years' work?--Away! away! | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| I alone am faithful! I | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Cling to him everlastingly. | 8 | ········ |
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.