Valenciennes
BY CORP’L TULLIDGE: see “The Trumpet-Major”
WE trenched, we trumpeted and drummed,And from our mortars tons of iron hummedAth’art the ditch, the month we bombedThe Town o’ Valencieën.
’Twas in the June o’ Ninety-dree(The Duke o’ Yark our then Commander been)The German Legion, Guards, and weLaid siege to Valencieën.
This was the first time in the warThat French and English spilled each other’s gore;—Few dreamt how far would roll the roarBegun at Valencieën!
’Twas said that we’d no business thereA-topperèn the French for disagreën;However, that’s not my affair—We were at Valencieën.
Such snocks and slats, since war beganNever knew raw recruit or veteran:Stone-deaf therence went many a manWho served at Valencieën.
Into the streets, ath’art the sky,A hundred thousand balls and bombs were fleën;And harmless townsfolk fell to dieEach hour at Valencieën!
And, sweatèn wi’ the bombardiers,A shell was slent to shards anighst my ears:—’Twas nigh the end of hopes and fearsFor me at Valencieën!
They bore my wownded frame to camp,And shut my gapèn skull, and washed en cleän,And jined en wi’ a zilver clampThik night at Valencieën.
“We’ve fetched en back to quick from dead;But never more on earth while rose is redWill drum rouse Corpel!” Doctor saidO’ me at Valencieën.
’Twer true. No voice o’ friend or foeCan reach me now, or any livèn beën;And little have I power to knowSince then at Valencieën!
I never hear the zummer humsO’ bees; and don’ know when the cuckoo comes;But night and day I hear the bombsWe threw at Valencieën . . .
As for the Duke o’ Yark in war,There be some volk whose judgment o’ en is mean;But this I say—a was not farFrom great at Valencieën.
O’ wild wet nights, when all seems sad,My wownds come back, as though new wownds I’d had;But yet—at times I’m sort o’ gladI fout at Valencieën.
Well: Heaven wi’ its jasper hallsIs now the on’y Town I care to be in . . .Good Lord, if Nick should bomb the wallsAs we did Valencieën!
Words in this poem
- duke n.
- A leader; a chief; a prince. [F. duc, fr. L. dux, ducis, leader, commander, fr. ducere to lead; akin to AS. teón to draw; cf. AS. heretoga (here army) an army leader, general, G. herzog duke]
- recruit v. t.
- To repair by fresh supplies, as anything wasted; to remedy lack or deficiency in; as, food recruits the flesh; fresh air and exercise recruit the spirits. [F. recruter, corrupted (under influence of recrue recruiting, recruit, from recro, p.p. recr, to grow again) from an older recluter, properly, to patch, to mend]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- townsfolk n.
- The people of a town; especially, the inhabitants of a city, in distinction from country people; townspeople.
- nick n.
- A notch cut into something; as: (a) A score for keeping an account; a reckoning. [Akin to Nock.]
- bomb n.
- A great noise; a hollow sound. [F. bombe bombshell, fr. L. bombus a humming or buzzing noise, Gr. .]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Valenciennes is in the public domain. This text is taken from Wessex Poems and Other Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #3167; 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, Valenciennes, in Wessex Poems and Other Verses (1898), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3167, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-wessex-poems/valenciennes.html, id L19084.
Form and metre
Valenciennes is 57 lines in 15 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
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.
- 2 AA-- drummedA · hummedA · bombed · valencieën
- 3 A-A- dreeA · been · weA · valencieën
- 4 AAA- warA · goreA · roarA · valencieën
- 5 A-A- thereA · disagreën · affairA · valencieën
- 6 AAA- beganA · veteranA · manA · valencieën
- 7 A-A- skyA · fleën · dieA · valencieën
- 8 AAA- bombardiersA · earsA · fearsA · valencieën
- 9 A-A- campA · cleän · clampA · valencieën
- 10 AAA- deadA · redA · saidA · valencieën
- 11 A-A- foeA · beën · knowA · valencieën
- 12 AA-- humsA · comesA · bombs · valencieën
- 14 AAA- sadA · hadA · gladA · valencieën
- 15 A-A- hallsA · in · wallsA · valencieën
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 |
|---|---|---|
| BY CORP’L TULLIDGE: see “The Trumpet-Major” | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| WE trenched, we trumpeted and drummed, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| And from our mortars tons of iron hummed | 9 | ··//˘··/· |
| Ath’art the ditch, the month we bombed | 8 | ········ |
| The Town o’ Valencieën. | 6 | ······ |
| ’Twas in the June o’ Ninety-dree | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| (The Duke o’ Yark our then Commander been) | 10 | ····/·˘/˘· |
| The German Legion, Guards, and we | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Laid siege to Valencieën. | 6 | ······ |
| This was the first time in the war | 8 | ········ |
| That French and English spilled each other’s gore; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| —Few dreamt how far would roll the roar | 8 | ········ |
| Begun at Valencieën! | 6 | ˘/···· |
| ’Twas said that we’d no business there | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A-topperèn the French for disagreën; | 10 | ·········· |
| However, that’s not my affair— | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| We were at Valencieën. | 6 | ······ |
| Such snocks and slats, since war began | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Never knew raw recruit or veteran: | 8 | /··˘/·/˘ |
| Stone-deaf therence went many a man | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Who served at Valencieën. | 6 | ······ |
| Into the streets, ath’art the sky, | 8 | ········ |
| A hundred thousand balls and bombs were fleën; | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| And harmless townsfolk fell to die | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| Each hour at Valencieën! | 6 | ·/···· |
| And, sweatèn wi’ the bombardiers, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| A shell was slent to shards anighst my ears: | 10 | ·········· |
| —’Twas nigh the end of hopes and fears | 8 | ········ |
| For me at Valencieën! | 6 | ······ |
| They bore my wownded frame to camp, | 8 | ········ |
| And shut my gapèn skull, and washed en cleän, | 10 | ·········· |
| And jined en wi’ a zilver clamp | 8 | ········ |
| Thik night at Valencieën. | 6 | ······ |
| “We’ve fetched en back to quick from dead; | 8 | ········ |
| But never more on earth while rose is red | 9 | ·/······· |
| Will drum rouse Corpel!” Doctor said | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| O’ me at Valencieën. | 6 | ······ |
| ’Twer true. No voice o’ friend or foe | 8 | ········ |
| Can reach me now, or any livèn beën; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And little have I power to know | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| Since then at Valencieën! | 6 | ······ |
| I never hear the zummer hums | 7 | ·/····· |
| O’ bees; and don’ know when the cuckoo comes; | 10 | ·······/·· |
| But night and day I hear the bombs | 8 | ········ |
| We threw at Valencieën . . . | 6 | ······ |
| As for the Duke o’ Yark in war, | 8 | ········ |
| There be some volk whose judgment o’ en is mean; | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| But this I say—a was not far | 8 | ········ |
| From great at Valencieën. | 6 | ······ |
| O’ wild wet nights, when all seems sad, | 8 | ········ |
| My wownds come back, as though new wownds I’d had; | 10 | ·········· |
| But yet—at times I’m sort o’ glad | 8 | ········ |
| I fout at Valencieën. | 6 | ······ |
| Well: Heaven wi’ its jasper halls | 7 | ·/··/˘· |
| Is now the on’y Town I care to be in . . . | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| Good Lord, if Nick should bomb the walls | 8 | ········ |
| As we did Valencieën! | 6 | ······ |
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.