Postscript, “Men Who March Away”, (Song of the Soldiers)
WHAT of the faith and fire within usMen who march awayEre the barn-cocks sayNight is growing gray,To hazards whence no tears can win us;What of the faith and fire within usMen who march away?
Is it a purblind prank, O think you,Friend with the musing eye,Who watch us stepping byWith doubt and dolorous sigh?Can much pondering so hoodwink you!Is it a purblind prank, O think you,Friend with the musing eye?
Nay. We well see what we are doing,Though some may not see—Dalliers as they be—England’s need are we;Her distress would leave us rueing:Nay. We well see what we are doing,Though some may not see!
In our heart of hearts believingVictory crowns the just,And that braggarts mustSurely bite the dust,Press we to the field ungrieving,In our heart of hearts believingVictory crowns the just.
Hence the faith and fire within usMen who march awayEre the barn-cocks sayNight is growing gray,To hazards whence no tears can win us:Hence the faith and fire within usMen who march away.
Words in this poem
- dolorous a.
- Full of grief; sad; sorrowful; doleful; dismal; as, a dolorous object; dolorous discourses. [L. dolorosus, from dolor: cf. F. douloureux. See Dolor.]
- hoodwink v. t.
- To blind by covering the eyes. [Hood + wink.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Postscript, “Men Who March Away”, (Song of the Soldiers) is in the public domain. This text is taken from Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries, with Miscellaneous Pieces, Project Gutenberg ebook #2863; 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, Postscript, “Men Who March Away”, (Song of the Soldiers), in Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2863, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-satires/postscript-men-who-march-away-song-of-the-soldiers.html, id L24098.
Form and metre
Postscript, “Men Who March Away”, (Song of the Soldiers) is 35 lines in 5 stanzas of 7 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBBAAB. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
See other poems in trochaic trimeter.
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 ABBBAAB usA · awayB · sayB · grayB · usA · usA · awayB
- 2 ABBBAAB youA · eyeB · byB · sighB · youA · youA · eyeB
- 3 ABBBAAB doingA · seeB · beB · weB · rueingA · doingA · seeB
- 4 ABBBAAB believingA · justB · mustB · dustB · ungrievingA · believingA · justB
- 5 ABBBAAB usA · awayB · sayB · grayB · usA · usA · awayB
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 trochaic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| WHAT of the faith and fire within us | 9 | ·····/··· |
| Men who march away | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Ere the barn-cocks say | 5 | ····· |
| Night is growing gray, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| To hazards whence no tears can win us; | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| What of the faith and fire within us | 9 | ·····/··· |
| Men who march away? | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Is it a purblind prank, O think you, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Friend with the musing eye, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Who watch us stepping by | 6 | ···/˘· |
| With doubt and dolorous sigh? | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Can much pondering so hoodwink you! | 8 | ··/˘·/·· |
| Is it a purblind prank, O think you, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Friend with the musing eye? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Nay. We well see what we are doing, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Though some may not see— | 5 | ····· |
| Dalliers as they be— | 5 | ····· |
| England’s need are we; | 5 | /˘··· |
| Her distress would leave us rueing: | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Nay. We well see what we are doing, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Though some may not see! | 5 | ····· |
| In our heart of hearts believing | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Victory crowns the just, | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| And that braggarts must | 5 | ····· |
| Surely bite the dust, | 5 | /˘··· |
| Press we to the field ungrieving, | 8 | ········ |
| In our heart of hearts believing | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Victory crowns the just. | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| Hence the faith and fire within us | 8 | ····/··· |
| Men who march away | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Ere the barn-cocks say | 5 | ····· |
| Night is growing gray, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| To hazards whence no tears can win us: | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Hence the faith and fire within us | 8 | ····/··· |
| Men who march away. | 5 | ···˘/ |
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