The Spartans’ March
’Twas morn upon the Grecian hills,Where peasants dress’d the vines;Sunlight was on Cithæron’s rills,Arcadia’s rocks and pines.
And brightly, through his reeds and flowers,Eurotas wander’d by,When a sound arose from Sparta’s towersOf solemn harmony.
Was it the hunters’ choral strainTo the woodland-goddess pour’d?Did virgin hands in Pallas’ faneStrike the full-sounding chord?
But helms were glancing on the stream,Spears ranged in close array,And shields flung back a glorious beamTo the morn of a fearful day!
And the mountain-echoes of the landSwell’d through the deep blue sky;While to soft strains moved forth a bandOf men that moved to die.
They march’d not with the trumpet’s blast,Nor bade the horn peal out;And the laurel groves, as on they pass’d,Rang with no battle-shout!
They ask’d no clarion’s voice to fireTheir souls with an impulse high;But the Dorian reed and the Spartan lyreFor the sons of liberty!
And still sweet flutes their path aroundSent forth Æolian breath;They needed not a sterner soundTo marshal them for death!
So moved they calmly to their field,Thence never to return,Save bearing back the Spartan shield,Or on it proudly borne!
Originally published in the Edinburgh Magazine.
Words in this poem
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- arcadia n.
- A mountainous and picturesque district of Greece, in the heart of the Peloponnesus, whose people were distinguished for contentment and rural happiness.
- choral a.
- Of or pertaining to a choir or chorus; singing, sung, or adapted to be sung, in chorus or harmony. Choral service, a service of song. [LL. choralis, fr. L. chorus. See Chorus.]
- fane n.
- A temple; a place consecrated to religion; a church. [L. fanum a place dedicated to some deity, a sanctuary, fr. fari to speak. See Fame.]
- glancing a.
- Shooting, as light.
- 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.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- peal v. i.
- To appeal. Spencer.
- clarion n.
- A kind of trumpet, whose note is clear and shrill. [OE. clarioun, OF. clarion, F. clairon, LL. clario, claro; so called from its clear tone, fr. L. clarus clear. See Clear.]
- dorian a.
- Of or pertaining to the ancient Greeks of Doris; Doric; as, a Dorian fashion.
- sterner n.
- A director. Dr. R. Clerke. [See 3d Stern.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Spartans’ March is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Felicia Hemans, Project Gutenberg ebook #66785; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Felicia Hemans, The Spartans’ March, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/the-spartans-march.html, id L19292.
Form and metre
The Spartans’ March is 37 lines in 10 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 6 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in common measure.
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 hillsA · vinesB · rillsA · pinesB
- 2 A-A- flowersA · by · towersA · harmony
- 3 ABAB strainA · pour'dB · faneA · chordB
- 4 ABAB streamA · arrayB · beamA · dayB
- 5 ABAB landA · skyB · bandA · dieB
- 6 ABAB blastA · outB · pass'dA · shoutB
- 7 A-A- fireA · high · lyreA · liberty
- 8 ABAB aroundA · breathB · soundA · deathB
- 9 A-A- fieldA · return · shieldA · borne
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| ’Twas morn upon the Grecian hills, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where peasants dress’d the vines; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Sunlight was on Cithæron’s rills, | 8 | /······· |
| Arcadia’s rocks and pines. | 7 | ˘/˘˘··· |
| And brightly, through his reeds and flowers, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Eurotas wander’d by, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| When a sound arose from Sparta’s towers | 10 | ···˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Of solemn harmony. | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| Was it the hunters’ choral strain | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| To the woodland-goddess pour’d? | 7 | ··/·/˘· |
| Did virgin hands in Pallas’ fane | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Strike the full-sounding chord? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| But helms were glancing on the stream, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Spears ranged in close array, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And shields flung back a glorious beam | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| To the morn of a fearful day! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And the mountain-echoes of the land | 9 | ··/˘/˘··· |
| Swell’d through the deep blue sky; | 6 | ······ |
| While to soft strains moved forth a band | 8 | ········ |
| Of men that moved to die. | 6 | ······ |
| They march’d not with the trumpet’s blast, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Nor bade the horn peal out; | 6 | ······ |
| And the laurel groves, as on they pass’d, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Rang with no battle-shout! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| They ask’d no clarion’s voice to fire | 10 | ···/˘˘··/˘ |
| Their souls with an impulse high; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| But the Dorian reed and the Spartan lyre | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| For the sons of liberty! | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| And still sweet flutes their path around | 8 | ········ |
| Sent forth Æolian breath; | 5 | ····· |
| They needed not a sterner sound | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To marshal them for death! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| So moved they calmly to their field, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thence never to return, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Save bearing back the Spartan shield, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Or on it proudly borne! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Originally published in the Edinburgh Magazine. | 12 | ˘/˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
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