On the Death of Captain Nicholas Biddle
What distant thunders rend the skies,What clouds of smoke in columns rise,What means this dreadful roar?Is from his base Vesuvius thrown,Is sky-topt Atlas tumbled down,Or Etna's self no more!
Shock after shock torments my ear;And lo!--two hostile ships appear,Red lightnings round them glow:The Yarmouth boasts of sixty-four,The Randolph thirty-two--no more--And will she fight this foe!
The Randolph soon on Stygian streamsShall coast along the land of dreams,The islands of the dead!But Fate, that parts them on the deep,May save the Briton yet to weepHis days of victory fled.
Say, who commands that dismal blaze,Where yonder starry streamer plays?Does Mars with Jove engage!'Tis Biddle wings those angry fires,Biddle, whose bosom Jove inspires,With more than mortal rage.
Tremendous flash!--and hark, the ballDrives through old Yarmouth, flames and all;Her bravest sons expire;Did Mars himself approach so nigh,Even Mars, without disgrace, might flyThe Randolph's fiercer fire.
The Briton views his mangled crew,"And shall we strike to thirty-two?--(Said Hector, stained with gore)"Shall Britain's flag to these descend--"Rise, and the glorious conflict end,"Britons, I ask no more!"
He spoke--they charged their cannon round,Again the vaulted heavens resound,The Randolph bore it all,Then fixed her pointed cannons true--Away the unwieldy vengeance flew;Britain, thy warriors fall.
The Yarmouth saw, with dire dismay,Her wounded hull, shrouds shot away,Her boldest heroes dead--She saw amidst her floating slainThe conquering Randolph stem the main--She saw, she turned--and fled!
That hour, blest chief, had she been thine,Dear Biddle, had the powers divineBeen kind as thou wert brave;But Fate, who doomed thee to expire,Prepared an arrow, tipt with fire,And marked a watery grave.
And in that hour, when conquest came,Winged at his ship a pointed flame,That not even he could shun--The battle ceased, the Yarmouth fled,The bursting Randolph ruin spread,And left her task undone!
This poem was first published as a pamphlet in 1781, by FrancisBailey of Philadelphia, in connection with "The Prison Ship."
Words in this poem 15
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- stygian a.
- Of or pertaining to the river Styx; hence, hellish; infernal.
- 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,]
- dismal a.
- Fatal; ill-omened; unlucky. [Formerly a noun; e. g., "I trow it was in the dismalle." Chaucer. Of uncertain origin; but perh. (as suggested by Skeat) from OF. disme, F. dîme, tithe, the phr]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- jove n.
- The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- tremendous a.
- Fitted to excite fear or terror; such as may astonish or terrify by its magnitude, force, or violence; terrible; dreadful; as, a tremendous wind; a tremendous shower; a tremendous shock or fall. [L. tremendus that is to be trembled at, fearful, fr. tremere to tremble. See Tremble.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- dire a.
- Ill-boding; portentous; as, dire omens. [L. dirus; of uncertain origin.]
- amidst 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]
- undone a.
- Not done or performed; neglected. [Pref. un- not + done.]
- pamphlet n.
- A writing; a book. Testament of love. [OE. pamflet, pamfilet, paunflet, possibly fr. OF. palme the palm of the hand, F. paume (see Palm) + OF. fueillet a leaf, dim. of fueil, m., F. feuille, f., fr. ]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Death of Captain Nicholas Biddle is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Philip Freneau, Poet of the American Revolution. Volume 1 (of 3), Project Gutenberg ebook #38475; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Philip Freneau, On the Death of Captain Nicholas Biddle, in Poems (1786–1815), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #38475, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/freneau-poems/on-the-death-of-captain-nicholas-biddle.html, id L12750.
Form and metre
On the Death of Captain Nicholas Biddle is 62 lines in 11 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 9 of its 11 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 11% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 AAB--B skiesA · riseA · roarB · thrown · down · moreB
- 2 AABCCB earA · appearA · glowB · fourC · moreC · foeB
- 3 AABCCB streamsA · dreamsA · deadB · deepC · weepC · fledB
- 4 AABCCB blazeA · playsA · engageB · firesC · inspiresC · rageB
- 5 AABCCB ballA · allA · expireB · nighC · flyC · fireB
- 6 AABCCB crewA · twoA · goreB · descendC · endC · moreB
- 7 AABCCB roundA · resoundA · allB · trueC · flewC · fallB
- 8 AABCCB dismayA · awayA · deadB · slainC · mainC · fledB
- 9 AABCCB thineA · divineA · braveB · expireC · fireC · graveB
- 10 AABCCB cameA · flameA · shunB · fledC · spreadC · undoneB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| What distant thunders rend the skies, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| What clouds of smoke in columns rise, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| What means this dreadful roar? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Is from his base Vesuvius thrown, | 9 | ····˘/˘˘· |
| Is sky-topt Atlas tumbled down, | 9 | ···/˘/˘˘· |
| Or Etna's self no more! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Shock after shock torments my ear; | 8 | ····/··· |
| And lo!--two hostile ships appear, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Red lightnings round them glow: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The Yarmouth boasts of sixty-four, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The Randolph thirty-two--no more-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And will she fight this foe! | 6 | ······ |
| The Randolph soon on Stygian streams | 9 | ·/˘··/˘˘· |
| Shall coast along the land of dreams, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| The islands of the dead! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But Fate, that parts them on the deep, | 8 | ········ |
| May save the Briton yet to weep | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| His days of victory fled. | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Say, who commands that dismal blaze, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Where yonder starry streamer plays? | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Does Mars with Jove engage! | 6 | ····˘/ |
| 'Tis Biddle wings those angry fires, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Biddle, whose bosom Jove inspires, | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| With more than mortal rage. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Tremendous flash!--and hark, the ball | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Drives through old Yarmouth, flames and all; | 10 | ·········· |
| Her bravest sons expire; | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Did Mars himself approach so nigh, | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| Even Mars, without disgrace, might fly | 9 | /˘···˘/·· |
| The Randolph's fiercer fire. | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| The Briton views his mangled crew, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘˘· |
| "And shall we strike to thirty-two?-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| (Said Hector, stained with gore) | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| "Shall Britain's flag to these descend-- | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| "Rise, and the glorious conflict end, | 9 | ···/˘˘˘/· |
| "Britons, I ask no more!" | 6 | /˘···· |
| He spoke--they charged their cannon round, | 9 | ····˘·/˘· |
| Again the vaulted heavens resound, | 9 | ˘/·/˘/˘·/ |
| The Randolph bore it all, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Then fixed her pointed cannons true-- | 9 | ··˘·/˘/˘· |
| Away the unwieldy vengeance flew; | 9 | ˘/·˘/˘/˘· |
| Britain, thy warriors fall. | 7 | /˘·/˘˘· |
| The Yarmouth saw, with dire dismay, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Her wounded hull, shrouds shot away, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Her boldest heroes dead-- | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| She saw amidst her floating slain | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| The conquering Randolph stem the main-- | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘··· |
| She saw, she turned--and fled! | 6 | ······ |
| That hour, blest chief, had she been thine, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Dear Biddle, had the powers divine | 9 | ·/˘··/˘˘/ |
| Been kind as thou wert brave; | 6 | ······ |
| But Fate, who doomed thee to expire, | 9 | ····˘··˘/ |
| Prepared an arrow, tipt with fire, | 10 | ˘/˘·/˘··/˘ |
| And marked a watery grave. | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| And in that hour, when conquest came, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| Winged at his ship a pointed flame, | 9 | ·˘····/˘· |
| That not even he could shun-- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| The battle ceased, the Yarmouth fled, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The bursting Randolph ruin spread, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| And left her task undone! | 6 | ····˘/ |
| This poem was first published as a pamphlet in 1781, by Francis | 14 | ·/··/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| Bailey of Philadelphia, in connection with "The Prison Ship." | 16 | /˘··˘/˘·˘/˘··/˘· |
Notes from the edition 2
Fred Lewis Pattee's notes to the Poems of Philip Freneau (Project Gutenberg #38475).
- Stanza 3, line 6 "His ancient honours fled."--Ed. 1786. This stanza was omitted from the 1795 edition, but returned again in 1809.
- Stanza 10, line 6 "And lost what honour won."--Ed. 1786. "And lost what courage won."--Ed. 1795.
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