A Chant of Love for England
A song of hate is a song of Hell;Some there be that sing it well.Let them sing it loud and long,We lift our hearts in a loftier song:We lift our hearts to Heaven above,Singing the glory of her we love,--England!
Glory of thought and glory of deed,Glory of Hampden and Runnymede;Glory of ships that sought far goals,Glory of swords and glory of souls!Glory of songs mounting as birds,Glory immortal of magical words;Glory of Milton, glory of Nelson,Tragical glory of Gordon and Scott;Glory of Shelley, glory of Sidney,Glory transcendent that perishes not,--Hers is the story, hers be the glory,England!
Shatter her beauteous breast ye may;The Spirit of England none can slay!Dash the bomb on the dome of Paul’s,--Deem ye the fame of the Admiral falls?Pry the stone from the chancel floor,--Dream ye that Shakespeare shall live no more?Where is the giant shot that killsWordsworth walking the old green hills?Trample the red rose on the ground,--Keats is Beauty while earth spins round!Bind her, grind her, burn her with fire,Cast her ashes into the sea,--She shall escape, she shall aspire,She shall arise to make men free:She shall arise in a sacred scorn,Lighting the lives that are yet unborn;Spirit supernal, Splendour eternal,ENGLAND!
Words in this poem
- tragical a.
- Of or pertaining to tragedy; of the nature or character of tragedy; as, a tragic poem; a tragic play or representation. [L. tragicus, Gr.tragique.]
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
- bomb n.
- A great noise; a hollow sound. [F. bombe bombshell, fr. L. bombus a humming or buzzing noise, Gr. .]
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
- 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,]
- aspire v. t.
- To aspire to; to long for; to try to reach; to mount to.
- unborn a.
- Not born; no yet brought into life; being still to appear; future.
- supernal a.
- Being in a higher place or region; locally higher; as, the supernal orbs; supernal regions. [L. supernus, from super above: cf. F. supernel. See Super-.]
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Chant of Love for England is in the public domain. This text is taken from A chant of love for England, and other poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #71425; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Helen Gray Cone, A Chant of Love for England, in A Chant of Love for England, and Other Poems (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #71425, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cone-chant-for-england/a-chant-of-love-for-england.html, id L22043.
Form and metre
A Chant of Love for England is 37 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 65% of the lines. The metre is dactylic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%).
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in dactylic trimeter.
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 AABBCC- hellA · wellA · longB · songB · aboveC · loveC · england
- 2 AABBCC-D-D-- deedA · runnymedeA · goalsB · soulsB · birdsC · wordsC · nelson · scottD · sidney · notD · glory · england
- 3 AABBCCDDEEFGFGHH-- mayA · slayA · paul'sB · fallsB · floorC · moreC · killsD · hillsD · groundE · roundE · fireF · seaG · aspireF · freeG · scornH · unbornH · eternal · england
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 dactylic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A song of hate is a song of Hell; | 9 | ········· |
| Some there be that sing it well. | 7 | ······· |
| Let them sing it loud and long, | 7 | ······· |
| We lift our hearts in a loftier song: | 10 | ··/···/˘˘· |
| We lift our hearts to Heaven above, | 10 | ··/˘··/˘·· |
| Singing the glory of her we love,-- | 9 | /˘·/˘···· |
| England! | 2 | /˘ |
| Glory of thought and glory of deed, | 9 | /˘···/˘·· |
| Glory of Hampden and Runnymede; | 9 | /˘······· |
| Glory of ships that sought far goals, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Glory of swords and glory of souls! | 9 | /˘···/˘·· |
| Glory of songs mounting as birds, | 8 | /˘··/˘·· |
| Glory immortal of magical words; | 10 | /˘˘/˘·/˘˘· |
| Glory of Milton, glory of Nelson, | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Tragical glory of Gordon and Scott; | 10 | ···/˘·/˘·· |
| Glory of Shelley, glory of Sidney, | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Glory transcendent that perishes not,-- | 10 | /˘˘/˘·/˘˘· |
| Hers is the story, hers be the glory, | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| England! | 2 | /˘ |
| Shatter her beauteous breast ye may; | 9 | /˘·/˘˘··· |
| The Spirit of England none can slay! | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| Dash the bomb on the dome of Paul’s,-- | 8 | ········ |
| Deem ye the fame of the Admiral falls? | 10 | ······/˘˘· |
| Pry the stone from the chancel floor,-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Dream ye that Shakespeare shall live no more? | 9 | ···/····· |
| Where is the giant shot that kills | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Wordsworth walking the old green hills? | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| Trample the red rose on the ground,-- | 8 | /˘······ |
| Keats is Beauty while earth spins round! | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Bind her, grind her, burn her with fire, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Cast her ashes into the sea,-- | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| She shall escape, she shall aspire, | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| She shall arise to make men free: | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| She shall arise in a sacred scorn, | 10 | ··˘/··/˘˘· |
| Lighting the lives that are yet unborn; | 9 | /˘·····// |
| Spirit supernal, Splendour eternal, | 10 | /˘˘/˘/˘˘/˘ |
| ENGLAND! | 2 | /˘ |
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