A Story of the Rebellion
The treacherous sands had caught our boat,And held it with a strong embraceAnd death at our imprisoned crewWas sternly looking face to face.
With anxious hearts, but failing strength,We strove to push the boat from shore;But all in vain, for there we layWith bated breath and useless oar.
Around us in a fearful stormThe fiery hail fell thick and fast;And we engirded by the sand,Could not return the dreadful blast.
When one arose upon whose browThe ardent sun had left his trace,A noble purpose strong and highUplighting all his dusky face.
Perchance within that fateful hourThe wrongs of ages thronged apace;But with it came the glorious hopeOf swift deliverance to his race.
Of galling chains asunder rent,Of severed hearts again made one,
Words in this poem
- sternly adv.
- In a stern manner.
- bated a.
- Reduced; lowered; restrained; as, to speak with bated breath.
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- fateful a.
- Having the power of serving or accomplishing fate.
- apace adv.
- With a quick pace; quick; fast; speedily. [Pref. a- + pace. OE. a pas at a walk, in which a is the article. See Pace.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- galling a.
- Fitted to gall or chafe; vexing; harassing; irritating.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Story of the Rebellion 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, in Poems (1854–1871), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #679, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/harper-poems/a-story-of-the-rebellion.html, id L10601.
Form and metre
A Story of the Rebellion is 22 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% 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.
- 1 -A-A boat · embraceA · crew · faceA
- 2 -A-A strength · shoreA · lay · oarA
- 3 -A-A storm · fastA · sand · blastA
- 4 -A-A brow · traceA · high · faceA
- 5 -A-A hour · apaceA · hope · raceA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The treacherous sands had caught our boat, | 8 | ·/˘···/· |
| And held it with a strong embrace | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And death at our imprisoned crew | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Was sternly looking face to face. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| With anxious hearts, but failing strength, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| We strove to push the boat from shore; | 8 | ········ |
| But all in vain, for there we lay | 8 | ········ |
| With bated breath and useless oar. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Around us in a fearful storm | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The fiery hail fell thick and fast; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And we engirded by the sand, | 8 | ········ |
| Could not return the dreadful blast. | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| When one arose upon whose brow | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| The ardent sun had left his trace, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A noble purpose strong and high | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Uplighting all his dusky face. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Perchance within that fateful hour | 9 | ˘/···/˘/˘ |
| The wrongs of ages thronged apace; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| But with it came the glorious hope | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of swift deliverance to his race. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Of galling chains asunder rent, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Of severed hearts again made one, | 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.