A Story of the Rebellion. 61
Of freedom crowning all the landThrough battles gained and victories won.
"Some one," our hero firmly said,"Must die to get us out of this;"Then leaped upon the strand and baredHis bosom to the bullets' hiss.
"But ye are soldiers, and can fight,May win in battles yet unfought;I have no offering but my life,And if they kill me it is nought."
With steady hands he grasped the boat,And boldly pushed it from the shore;Then fell by rebel bullets pierced,His life work grandly, nobly o'er.
Our boat was rescued from the sandsAnd launched in safety on the tide;But he our comrade good and grand,In our defence had bravely died.
Words in this poem
- boldly adv.
- In a bold manner. [AS. bealdlice.]
- rebel a.
- Pertaining to rebels or rebellion; acting in revolt; rebellious; as, rebel troops. [F. rebelle, fr. L. rebellis. See Rebel, v. t.]
- grandly adv.
- In a grand manner.
- nobly adv.
- Of noble extraction; as, nobly born or descended.
- defence n.
- The act of defending, or the state of being defended; protection, as from violence or danger. [F. défense, OF. defense, fem., defens, masc., fr. L. defensa (cf. Fence.]
- bravely adv.
- In a brave manner; courageously; gallantly; valiantly; splendidly; nobly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Story of the Rebellion. 61 is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #679; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, A Story of the Rebellion. 61, in Poems (1854–1871), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #679, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/harper-poems/a-story-of-the-rebellion-61.html, id L10602.
Form and metre
A Story of the Rebellion. 61 is 18 lines in 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 -A-A said · thisA · bared · hissA
- 3 -A-A fight · unfoughtA · life · noughtA
- 5 -A-A sands · tideA · grand · diedA
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Of freedom crowning all the land | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Through battles gained and victories won. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| "Some one," our hero firmly said, | 8 | ··//˘/˘· |
| "Must die to get us out of this;" | 8 | ········ |
| Then leaped upon the strand and bared | 8 | ········ |
| His bosom to the bullets' hiss. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| "But ye are soldiers, and can fight, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| May win in battles yet unfought; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I have no offering but my life, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And if they kill me it is nought." | 8 | ········ |
| With steady hands he grasped the boat, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And boldly pushed it from the shore; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Then fell by rebel bullets pierced, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| His life work grandly, nobly o'er. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Our boat was rescued from the sands | 8 | /··/˘··· |
| And launched in safety on the tide; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But he our comrade good and grand, | 8 | ··//···· |
| In our defence had bravely died. | 8 | ·/˘/·/˘· |
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.