The Soldier
The large report of fame I lack,And shining clasps and crimson scars,For I have held my bivouacAlone amid the untroubled stars.
My battle-field has known no dawnBeclouded by a thousand spears;I’ve been no mounting tyrant’s pawnTo buy his glory with my tears.
It never seemed a noble thingSome little leagues of land to gainFrom broken men, nor yet to flingAbroad the thunderbolts of pain.
Yet I have felt the quickening breathAs peril heavy peril kissed--My weapon was a little faith,And fear was my antagonist.
Not a brief hour of cannonade,But many days of bitter strife,Till God of His great pity laidAcross my brow the leaves of life.
Words in this poem
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- quickening n.
- The act or process of making or of becoming quick.
- cannonade n.
- The act of discharging cannon and throwing ball, shell, etc., for the purpose of destroying an army, or battering a town, ship, or fort; -- usually, an attack of some continuance. [F. Canonnade; cf. It. cannanata.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Soldier is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, 1908-1919, Project Gutenberg ebook #51575; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Drinkwater, The Soldier, in Poems, 1908-1919 (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51575, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drinkwater-poems/the-soldier.html, id L23033.
Form and metre
The Soldier is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 lackA · scarsB · bivouacA · starsB
- 2 ABAB dawnA · spearsB · pawnA · tearsB
- 3 ABAB thingA · gainB · flingA · painB
- 4 -A-A breath · kissedA · faith · antagonistA
- 5 ABAB cannonadeA · strifeB · laidA · lifeB
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 large report of fame I lack, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| And shining clasps and crimson scars, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| For I have held my bivouac | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Alone amid the untroubled stars. | 9 | ˘/˘/·˘/˘· |
| My battle-field has known no dawn | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Beclouded by a thousand spears; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I’ve been no mounting tyrant’s pawn | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| To buy his glory with my tears. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| It never seemed a noble thing | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Some little leagues of land to gain | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| From broken men, nor yet to fling | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Abroad the thunderbolts of pain. | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Yet I have felt the quickening breath | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As peril heavy peril kissed-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| My weapon was a little faith, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And fear was my antagonist. | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| Not a brief hour of cannonade, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘˘ |
| But many days of bitter strife, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Till God of His great pity laid | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Across my brow the leaves of life. | 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.