The Torch-Race
Brave racer, who hast sped the living lightWith throat outstretched and every nerve astrain,Now on thy left hand labours gray-faced Pain,And Death hangs close behind thee on the right.Soon flag the flying feet, soon fails the sight,With every pulse the gaunt pursuers gain;And all thy splendour of strong life must waneAnd set into the mystery of night.
Yet fear not, though in falling, blindness hideWhose hand shall snatch, before it sears the sod,The light thy lessening grasp no more controls:Truth’s rescuer, Truth shall instantly provide:This is the torch-race game, that noblest soulsPlay on through time beneath the eyes of God.
Words in this poem
- racer n.
- One who, or that which, races, or contends in a race; esp., a race horse.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- gaunt a.
- Attenuated, as with fasting or suffering; lean; meager; pinched and grim. [Cf. Norw. gand a thin pointed stick, a tall and thin man, and W. gwan weak.]
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- 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,]
- rescuer n.
- One who rescues.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Torch-Race 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, The Torch-Race, 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/the-torch-race.html, id L22089.
Form and metre
The Torch-Race is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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.
- 1 ABBAABBA lightA · astrainB · painB · rightA · sightA · gainB · waneB · nightA
- 2 ABCACB hideA · sodB · controlsC · provideA · soulsC · godB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Brave racer, who hast sped the living light | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| With throat outstretched and every nerve astrain, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Now on thy left hand labours gray-faced Pain, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And Death hangs close behind thee on the right. | 10 | ·········· |
| Soon flag the flying feet, soon fails the sight, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| With every pulse the gaunt pursuers gain; | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| And all thy splendour of strong life must wane | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And set into the mystery of night. | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Yet fear not, though in falling, blindness hide | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Whose hand shall snatch, before it sears the sod, | 10 | ·········· |
| The light thy lessening grasp no more controls: | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Truth’s rescuer, Truth shall instantly provide: | 10 | ·/·˘··/˘˘/ |
| This is the torch-race game, that noblest souls | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Play on through time beneath the eyes of God. | 10 | ·········· |
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.