Our Hero
Onward to her destination,O'er the stream the Hannah sped,When a cry of consternationSmote and chilled our hearts with dread.
Wildly leaping, madly sweeping,All relentless in their sway,Like a band of cruel demonsFlames were closing 'round our way
Oh! the horror of those moments;Flames above and waves below--Oh! the agony of agesCrowded in one hour of woe.
Fainter grew our hearts with anguishIn that hour with peril rife,When we saw the pilot flying,Terror-stricken, for his life.
Then a man uprose before us--We had once despised his race--But we saw a lofty purposeLighting up his darkened face.
Words in this poem
- destination n.
- The act of destining or appointing. [L. destinatio determination: cf. F. destination destination.]
- consternation n.
- Amazement or horror that confounds the faculties, and incapacitates for refletion; terror, combined with amaxement; dismay. [L. consternatio, fr. consternare to overome, perplex, an accessory form of consternere to trow down, prostrate; con + sternere to spread out, throw down: cf. F.]
- chilled a.
- Hardened on the surface or edge by chilling; as, chilled iron; a chilled wheel.
- madly adv.
- In a mad manner; without reason or understanding; wildly. [From Mad, a.]
- relentless a.
- Unmoved by appeals for sympathy or forgiveness; insensible to the distresses of others; destitute of tenderness; unrelenting; unyielding; unpitying; as, a prey to relentless despotism.
- rife a.
- Prevailing; prevalent; abounding. [AS. rif abundant, or Icel. rifr munificent; akin to OD. riff, rijve, abundant.]
- stricken p. p.
- Struck; smitten; wounded; as, the stricken deer.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Our Hero 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, Our Hero, in Poems (1854–1871), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #679, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/harper-poems/our-hero.html, id L10538.
Form and metre
Our Hero is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABAB, in 2 of the 5 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 30% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABAB destinationA · spedB · consternationA · dreadB
- 2 -A-A sweeping · swayA · demons · wayA
- 3 -A-A moments · belowA · ages · woeA
- 4 -A-A anguish · rifeA · flying · lifeA
- 5 ABAB usA · raceB · purposeA · faceB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Onward to her destination, | 8 | /˘···˘/˘ |
| O'er the stream the Hannah sped, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| When a cry of consternation | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Smote and chilled our hearts with dread. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Wildly leaping, madly sweeping, | 8 | /˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| All relentless in their sway, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Like a band of cruel demons | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Flames were closing 'round our way | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Oh! the horror of those moments; | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Flames above and waves below-- | 7 | ······· |
| Oh! the agony of ages | 8 | ··/˘˘·/˘ |
| Crowded in one hour of woe. | 8 | /˘··/˘·· |
| Fainter grew our hearts with anguish | 9 | /˘·/˘··/˘ |
| In that hour with peril rife, | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| When we saw the pilot flying, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Terror-stricken, for his life. | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Then a man uprose before us-- | 8 | ········ |
| We had once despised his race-- | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| But we saw a lofty purpose | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Lighting up his darkened face. | 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.