A Call to National Service
UP and be doing, all who have a handTo lift, a back to bend. It must not beIn times like these that vaguely linger weTo air our vaunts and hopes; and leave our land
Untended as a wild of weeds and sand.—Say, then, “I come!” and go, O women and menOf palace, ploughshare, easel, counter, pen;That scareless, scathless, England still may stand.
Would years but let me stir as once I stirredAt many a dawn to take the forward track,And with a stride plunged on to enterprize,
I now would speed like yester wind that whirredThrough yielding pines; and serve with never a slack,So loud for promptness all around outcries!
Words in this poem
- ploughshare n.
- The share of a plow, or that part which cuts the slice of earth or sod at the bottom of the furrow. Plowshare bone (Anat.), the pygostyle.
- easel n.
- A frame (commonly) of wood serving to hold a canvas upright, or nearly upright, for the painter's convenience or for exhibition. [D. ezel ass, donkey, hence, easel, or G. esel; akin to E. ass. See Ass.]
- scathless a.
- Unharmed. R. L. Stevenson.
- stride v. t.
- To walk with long steps, especially in a measured or pompous manner. [AS. stridan to stride, to strive; akin to LG. striden, OFries. strida to strive, D. strijden to strive, to contend, G. streiten, OHG. stritan; of uncertain orig]
- yester a.
- Last; last past; next before; of or pertaining to yesterday. [See Yesterday.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Call to National Service is in the public domain. This text is taken from Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #3255; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Hardy, A Call to National Service, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/a-call-to-national-service.html, id L24244.
Form and metre
A Call to National Service is 14 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is DEF, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 ABBA handA · beB · weB · landA
- 2 ACCA sandA · menC · penC · standA
- 3 DEF stirredD · trackE · enterprizeF
- 4 DEF whirredD · slackE · outcriesF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| UP and be doing, all who have a hand | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To lift, a back to bend. It must not be | 10 | ·········· |
| In times like these that vaguely linger we | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| To air our vaunts and hopes; and leave our land | 10 | ··/·····/· |
| Untended as a wild of weeds and sand. | 10 | ·········· |
| —Say, then, “I come!” and go, O women and men | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Of palace, ploughshare, easel, counter, pen; | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| That scareless, scathless, England still may stand. | 11 | ····/˘/˘··· |
| Would years but let me stir as once I stirred | 10 | ·········· |
| At many a dawn to take the forward track, | 10 | ·/·····/˘· |
| And with a stride plunged on to enterprize, | 10 | ·········· |
| I now would speed like yester wind that whirred | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Through yielding pines; and serve with never a slack, | 10 | ·/˘····/·· |
| So loud for promptness all around outcries! | 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.