Sound at Core
THE wind is fierce and loud and high,The angry tempest hurtles by;With quivering keel and straining sailThe ship of State confronts the gale.Rocks are ahead and peril near;But still we face the storm, nor fear,Saying this brave truth o’er and o’er:“The nation’s heart is sound at core.”
We knew it in those darker daysWhen all the kind, familiar waysAnd all the tenderness of lifeSeemed lost in bitterness and strife;When, torn with shot and riddled through,Lay in the dust our Red and Blue,Dropped by the gallant hands that bore,“The nation’s heart is sound at core.”
We said it when the war-cloud rent,And out of field and out of tentThe bronzèd soldiers, Blue and Gray,Took each the peaceful homeward way;When the foiled traitors sought to attainBy fraud what force had failed to gain,—Heart-sick, we said the words once more:“The nation’s heart is sound at core.”
And always, as the worst seemed near,And stout hearts failed for very fear,Came a great throb the country through,—The nation’s heart still beating true!Ah, mother-land and mother-breast,We still will trust you and will rest;Although waves howl and tempests lower,Your heart, our heart, is sound at core.
Words in this poem
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- ahead adv.
- In or to the front; in advance; onward. [Pref. a- + head.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- homeward a.
- Being in the direction of home; as, the homeward way.
- throb v. i.
- To beat, or pulsate, with more than usual force or rapidity; to beat in consequence of agitation; to palpitate; -- said of the heart, pulse, etc. [OE. ; of uncertain origin; cf. Russ. trepete a trembling, and E. trepidation.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sound at Core is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Few More Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #49518; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Susan Coolidge, Sound at Core, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/sound-at-core.html, id L23502.
Form and metre
Sound at Core is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABBCCDD, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 AABBCC-- highA · byA · sailB · galeB · nearC · fearC · o'er · core
- 2 AABBCCDD daysA · waysA · lifeB · strifeB · throughC · blueC · boreD · coreD
- 3 AABBCCDD rentA · tentA · grayB · wayB · attainC · gainC · moreD · coreD
- 4 AABBCC-- nearA · fearA · throughB · trueB · breastC · restC · lower · core
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 wind is fierce and loud and high, | 8 | ········ |
| The angry tempest hurtles by; | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| With quivering keel and straining sail | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The ship of State confronts the gale. | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Rocks are ahead and peril near; | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| But still we face the storm, nor fear, | 8 | ········ |
| Saying this brave truth o’er and o’er: | 8 | /˘······ |
| “The nation’s heart is sound at core.” | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| We knew it in those darker days | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When all the kind, familiar ways | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And all the tenderness of life | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Seemed lost in bitterness and strife; | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| When, torn with shot and riddled through, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Lay in the dust our Red and Blue, | 8 | ····/··· |
| Dropped by the gallant hands that bore, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| “The nation’s heart is sound at core.” | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| We said it when the war-cloud rent, | 8 | ········ |
| And out of field and out of tent | 8 | ········ |
| The bronzèd soldiers, Blue and Gray, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Took each the peaceful homeward way; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| When the foiled traitors sought to attain | 9 | ···/˘··˘/ |
| By fraud what force had failed to gain,— | 8 | ········ |
| Heart-sick, we said the words once more: | 8 | ········ |
| “The nation’s heart is sound at core.” | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And always, as the worst seemed near, | 8 | ·/······ |
| And stout hearts failed for very fear, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Came a great throb the country through,— | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The nation’s heart still beating true! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Ah, mother-land and mother-breast, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| We still will trust you and will rest; | 8 | ········ |
| Although waves howl and tempests lower, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Your heart, our heart, is sound at core. | 8 | ··/····· |
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