After Troy
We flung against their gods,invincible, clear hate;we fought;frantic, we flung the lastimperious, desperate shaft
and lost:we knew the lossbefore they ever guessedfortune had tossed to themher favour and her whim;but how were we depressed?we lost yet as we pressedour spearsmen on their best,we knew their line invinciblebecause there fellon them no shiveringsof the white enchanteress,radiant Aphrodite’s spell:
we hurled our shafts of passion,noblest hate,and knew their cause was blest,and knew their gods were nobler,better taught in skill,subtler with wit of thought,yet had it been God’s willthat they not we should fall,we know those fields had bledwith roses lesser red.
Words in this poem
- imperious a.
- Commanding; ascendant; imperial; lordly; majestic. [L. imperiosus: cf. F. impérieux. See Imperial.]
- desperate a.
- Without hope; given to despair; hopeless. [L. desperatus, p. p. of desperare. See Despair, and cf. Desperado.]
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
- aphrodite n.
- The Greek goddess of love, corresponding to the Venus of the Romans.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
After Troy is in the public domain. This text is taken from Heliodora, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #62456; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: H.D., After Troy, in Heliodora, and Other Poems (1924), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #62456, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hd-heliodora/after-troy.html, id L24309.
Form and metre
After Troy is 28 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See other poems in iambic 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.
- 2 --A--AAABB--B lost · loss · guessedA · them · whim · depressedA · pressedA · bestA · invincibleB · fellB · shiverings · enchanteress · spellB
- 3 ----A-A-BB passion · hate · blest · nobler · skillA · thought · willA · fall · bledB · redB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| We flung against their gods, | 6 | ······ |
| invincible, clear hate; | 6 | ˘/˘˘·· |
| we fought; | 2 | ·· |
| frantic, we flung the last | 6 | /˘···· |
| imperious, desperate shaft | 6 | ˘/˘/˘· |
| and lost: | 2 | ·· |
| we knew the loss | 4 | ···· |
| before they ever guessed | 6 | ···/˘· |
| fortune had tossed to them | 6 | /˘···· |
| her favour and her whim; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| but how were we depressed? | 6 | ····˘/ |
| we lost yet as we pressed | 6 | ······ |
| our spearsmen on their best, | 6 | /····· |
| we knew their line invincible | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| because there fell | 4 | ···· |
| on them no shiverings | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| of the white enchanteress, | 7 | ······· |
| radiant Aphrodite’s spell: | 7 | /˘·˘/˘· |
| we hurled our shafts of passion, | 7 | ··/··/˘ |
| noblest hate, | 3 | /˘· |
| and knew their cause was blest, | 6 | ······ |
| and knew their gods were nobler, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| better taught in skill, | 5 | /˘··· |
| subtler with wit of thought, | 6 | /˘···· |
| yet had it been God’s will | 6 | ······ |
| that they not we should fall, | 6 | ······ |
| we know those fields had bled | 6 | ······ |
| with roses lesser red. | 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.