Your Sincere Admirer.’: The Crusaders’ War-Song
Chieftains, lead on! our hearts beat high--Lead on to Salem’s towers!Who would not deem it bliss to die,Slain in a cause like ours?The brave who sleep in soil of thine,Die not entomb’d but shrined, O Palestine!
Souls of the slain in holy war!Look from your sainted rest.Tell us ye rose in Glory’s car,To mingle with the blest;Tell us how short the death-pang’s power,How bright the joys of your immortal bower.
Strike the loud harp, ye minstrel train!Pour forth your loftiest lays;Each heart shall echo to the strainBreathed in the warrior’s praise.Bid every string triumphant swellTh’ inspiring sounds that heroes love so well.
Salem! amidst the fiercest hour,The wildest rage of fight,Thy name shall lend our falchions power,And nerve our hearts with might.Envied be those for thee that fall,Who find their graves beneath thy sacred wall.
For them no need that sculptured tombShould chronicle their fame,Or pyramid record their doom,Or deathless verse their name;It is enough that dust of thineShould shroud their forms, O blessed Palestine!
Chieftains, lead on! our hearts beat highFor combat’s glorious hour;Soon shall the red-cross banner flyOn Salem’s loftiest tower!We burn to mingle in the strife,Where but to die insures eternal life.
Words in this poem
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
- sainted a.
- Consecrated; sacred; holy; pious.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- amidst prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
- 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.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Your Sincere Admirer.’: The Crusaders’ War-Song 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, Your Sincere Admirer.’: The Crusaders’ War-Song, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/your-sincere-admirer-the-crusaders-war-song.html, id L13477.
Form and metre
Your Sincere Admirer.’: The Crusaders’ War-Song is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 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.
- 1 ABABCC highA · towersB · dieA · oursB · thineC · palestineC
- 2 -A-ABB war · restA · car · blestA · powerB · bowerB
- 3 ABABCC trainA · laysB · strainA · praiseB · swellC · wellC
- 4 ABABCC hourA · fightB · powerA · mightB · fallC · wallC
- 5 ABABCC tombA · fameB · doomA · nameB · thineC · palestineC
- 6 ABABCC highA · hourB · flyA · towerB · strifeC · lifeC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Chieftains, lead on! our hearts beat high-- | 9 | /˘··/˘··· |
| Lead on to Salem’s towers! | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Who would not deem it bliss to die, | 8 | ········ |
| Slain in a cause like ours? | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The brave who sleep in soil of thine, | 8 | ········ |
| Die not entomb’d but shrined, O Palestine! | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Souls of the slain in holy war! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Look from your sainted rest. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Tell us ye rose in Glory’s car, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To mingle with the blest; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Tell us how short the death-pang’s power, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| How bright the joys of your immortal bower. | 11 | ······˘/˘/˘ |
| Strike the loud harp, ye minstrel train! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Pour forth your loftiest lays; | 6 | ······ |
| Each heart shall echo to the strain | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Breathed in the warrior’s praise. | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Bid every string triumphant swell | 9 | ·/˘˘·˘/˘· |
| Th’ inspiring sounds that heroes love so well. | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Salem! amidst the fiercest hour, | 9 | /˘˘/·/˘/˘ |
| The wildest rage of fight, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Thy name shall lend our falchions power, | 10 | ····/˘··/˘ |
| And nerve our hearts with might. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Envied be those for thee that fall, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Who find their graves beneath thy sacred wall. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| For them no need that sculptured tomb | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Should chronicle their fame, | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Or pyramid record their doom, | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/·· |
| Or deathless verse their name; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| It is enough that dust of thine | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Should shroud their forms, O blessed Palestine! | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Chieftains, lead on! our hearts beat high | 9 | /˘··/˘··· |
| For combat’s glorious hour; | 8 | ·˘//˘˘/˘ |
| Soon shall the red-cross banner fly | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| On Salem’s loftiest tower! | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| We burn to mingle in the strife, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Where but to die insures eternal life. | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
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.