An Appeal to America on Behalf of the Belgian Destitute
SEVEN millions standEmaciate, in that ancient Delta-land:—We here, full-charged with our own maimed and dead,And coiled in throbbing conflicts slow and sore,Can poorly soothe these ails unmeritedOf souls forlorn upon the facing shore!—Where naked, gaunt, in endless band on bandSeven millions stand.
No man can sayTo your great country that, with scant delay,You must, perforce, ease them in their loud need:We know that nearer first your duty lies;But—is it much to ask that you let pleadYour lovingkindness with you—wooing-wise—Albeit that aught you owe, and must repay,No man can say?
Words in this poem
- emaciate v. i.
- To lose flesh gradually and become very lean; to waste away in flesh. [L. emaciatus, p. p. of emaciare to make lean; e + maciare to make lean or meager, fr. macies leanness, akin to macer lean. See Meager.]
- soothe v. t.
- To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- gaunt a.
- Attenuated, as with fasting or suffering; lean; meager; pinched and grim. [Cf. Norw. gand a thin pointed stick, a tall and thin man, and W. gwan weak.]
- perforce v. t.
- To force; to compel.
- albeit conj.
- Even though; although; notwithstanding. [OE. al be although it be, where al is our all. Cf. Although.]
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
An Appeal to America on Behalf of the Belgian Destitute 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, An Appeal to America on Behalf of the Belgian Destitute, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/an-appeal-to-america-on-behalf-of-the-belgian-destitute.html, id L24237.
Form and metre
An Appeal to America on Behalf of the Belgian Destitute is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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 AA-B-BAA standA · landA · dead · soreB · unmerited · shoreB · bandA · standA
- 2 AABCBCAA sayA · delayA · needB · liesC · pleadB · wiseC · repayA · sayA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| SEVEN millions stand | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| Emaciate, in that ancient Delta-land:— | 11 | ˘/˘···/˘/˘· |
| We here, full-charged with our own maimed and dead, | 10 | ·····/···· |
| And coiled in throbbing conflicts slow and sore, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Can poorly soothe these ails unmerited | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Of souls forlorn upon the facing shore!— | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Where naked, gaunt, in endless band on band | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Seven millions stand. | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| No man can say | 4 | ···· |
| To your great country that, with scant delay, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| You must, perforce, ease them in their loud need: | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| We know that nearer first your duty lies; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| But—is it much to ask that you let plead | 10 | ·········· |
| Your lovingkindness with you—wooing-wise— | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| Albeit that aught you owe, and must repay, | 11 | ˘/˘······˘/ |
| No man can say? | 4 | ···· |
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