The Pledging
“WE buried a loving heart to-day;We miss his coming over the way,The toss of his hair, his laughter’s ring;
“The radiant presence gone from earth;The serious eyes that could shine with mirth,The luminous brain, the hand of a king;
“So, losing him as we did, I sayFill up the goblets, and glad and gayOn his lonely road we will drink him cheer:
“Health to the fine old friend we knew!Peace to his slumbers under the dew!Hail to his memory kind and dear!
“And for second pledge, fill up to the brim;(Laugh lightly, what if our eyes be dim!)Here’s to the first that shall follow him.”
The sun ran riot across the floor;Pomegranate-blossoms swung by the door;Blithe robins lit on the ivied sill:
The voice in the gurgle of wine was lost;Up from the board were the beakers tossed;Loud clashed their rims with a royal will.
And he, the youngest, that swayed them erst,Poured yet again, like a man athirst:“To the first who follows we drink, we three!”
Sudden beside him Another stood,So sudden, he fell as the sandal-woodSinks when the axe is laid to the tree:
But the Shadow lifted his cup insteadWith the old quick smile, and the toss of the head:“Franz! thou art the first to follow!” he said.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- blithe a.
- Gay; merry; sprightly; joyous; glad; cheerful; as, a blithe spirit. [AS. bli blithe, kind; akin to Goth. blei kind, Icel. bli mild, gentle, Dan. & Sw. blid gentle, D. blijd blithe, OHG. blidi kind, blithe.]
- ivied a.
- Overgrown with ivy. [From Ivy.]
- gurgle v. i.
- To run or flow in a broken, irregular, noisy current, as water from a bottle, or a small stream among pebbles or stones. [Cf. It. gorgogliare to gargle, bubble up, fr. L. gurgulio gullet. Cf. Gargle, Gorge.]
- swayed a.
- Bent down, and hollow in the back; sway-backed; -- said of a horse.
- athirst a.
- Wanting drink; thirsty. [OE. ofthurst, AS. ofpyrsted, p. p. of ofpyrstan; pref. of-, intensive + pyrstan to thirst. See Thirst.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Pledging is in the public domain. This text is taken from Songs at the Start, Project Gutenberg ebook #53087; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Louise Imogen Guiney, The Pledging, in Songs at the Start (1884), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #53087, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/guiney-songs/the-pledging.html, id L11232.
Form and metre
The Pledging is 30 lines in 10 stanzas of 3 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 60% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.1 syllables. 13% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AAB dayA · wayA · ringB
- 2 CCB earthC · mirthC · kingB
- 3 AAD sayA · gayA · cheerD
- 4 EED knewE · dewE · dearD
- 5 FFF brimF · dimF · himF
- 6 GGH floorG · doorG · sillH
- 7 IIH lostI · tossedI · willH
- 8 --J erst · athirst · threeJ
- 9 KKJ stoodK · woodK · treeJ
- 10 LLL insteadL · headL · saidL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “WE buried a loving heart to-day; | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| We miss his coming over the way, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The toss of his hair, his laughter’s ring; | 9 | ······/˘· |
| “The radiant presence gone from earth; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The serious eyes that could shine with mirth, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| The luminous brain, the hand of a king; | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| “So, losing him as we did, I say | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Fill up the goblets, and glad and gay | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| On his lonely road we will drink him cheer: | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| “Health to the fine old friend we knew! | 8 | ········ |
| Peace to his slumbers under the dew! | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Hail to his memory kind and dear! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| “And for second pledge, fill up to the brim; | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| (Laugh lightly, what if our eyes be dim!) | 9 | ·/˘··/··· |
| Here’s to the first that shall follow him.” | 9 | ······/˘· |
| The sun ran riot across the floor; | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| Pomegranate-blossoms swung by the door; | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| Blithe robins lit on the ivied sill: | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| The voice in the gurgle of wine was lost; | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Up from the board were the beakers tossed; | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Loud clashed their rims with a royal will. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And he, the youngest, that swayed them erst, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Poured yet again, like a man athirst: | 9 | ··˘/···˘/ |
| “To the first who follows we drink, we three!” | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Sudden beside him Another stood, | 9 | /˘·/·˘/˘· |
| So sudden, he fell as the sandal-wood | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Sinks when the axe is laid to the tree: | 9 | ········· |
| But the Shadow lifted his cup instead | 10 | ··/·/˘··˘/ |
| With the old quick smile, and the toss of the head: | 11 | ··········· |
| “Franz! thou art the first to follow!” he said. | 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.