Battle of the Norsemen and the Gaels
Ho! hither flock, ye fowls of prey!Ye wolves of war, make no delay!For foemen 'neath our blades shall fallEre night may veil with purple pall.The evening psalms are nearly o'er,And priests who follow in our trainHave promised us the final gain,And filled with faith our valiant corps.
Let orphans weep, and widows brood!To-morrow we shall wash the bloodOff saw-gapped sword and lances bent,So, close the ranks and fire the tent!And chill yon coward cavalcadeWith brazen bugles blaring loud,E'en though our chargers' neighing proudAlready has the host dismayed.
Spur, horsemen, spur! the charge resounds!On Gaelic spear the Northman bounds!Through helmet plumes the arrows flit,And plated breasts the pikeheads split.The double-axe fells human oaks,And like the thistles in the fieldSee bristling up (where none must yield!)The points hewn off by sweeping strokes!
We, heroes all, our wounds disdain;Dismounted now, our horses slain,Yet we advance--more courage show,Though stricken, seek to overthrowThe victor-knights who tread in mudThe writhing slaves who bite the heel,While on caparisons of steelThe maces thunder--cudgels thud!
Should daggers fail hide-coats to shred,Seize each your man and hug him dead!Who falls unslain will only makeA mouthful to the wolves who slakeTheir month-whet thirst. No captives, none!We die or win! but should we die,The lopped-off hand will wave on highThe broken brand to hail the sun!
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- valiant a.
- Vigorous in body; strong; powerful; as, a valiant fencer. [OE. valiant, F. vaillant, OF. vaillant, valant, originally p. pr. of OF. & F. valoir to be worth, L. valere to be strong. See Wield, and cf. Avail, Convalesce, ]
- corps n.
- The human body, whether living or dead. See Corpse, 1. [F., fr. L. corpus body. See Corpse.]
- cavalcade n.
- A procession of persons on horseback; a formal, pompous march of horsemen by way of parade. [F. cavalcade, fr. It. cavalcata, fr. cavalcare to go on horseback, fr. LL. caballicare, fr. L. caballus an inferior horse, Gr. Cavalier, Cavalry.]
- gaelic a.
- Of or pertaining to the Gael, esp. to the Celtic Highlanders of Scotland; as, the Gaelic language. [Gael. Gàidhealach, Gaelach, from Gàidheal, Gael, a Scotch Highlander.]
- northman n.
- One of the inhabitants of the north of Europe; esp., one of the ancient Scandinavians; a Norseman. [AS. noredhman. See North, and Man, and cf. Norman.]
- flit a.
- Nimble; quick; swift. See Fleet.
- stricken p. p.
- Struck; smitten; wounded; as, the stricken deer.
- mouthful n.
- As much as is usually put into the mouth at one time.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Battle of the Norsemen and the Gaels is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, the various hands translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Victor Hugo, Battle of the Norsemen and the Gaels, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/battle-of-the-norsemen-and-the-gaels.html, id L26712.
Form and metre
Battle of the Norsemen and the Gaels is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABBCDDC. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%).
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 AABBCDDC preyA · delayA · fallB · pallB · o'erC · trainD · gainD · corpsC
- 2 AABBCDDC broodA · bloodA · bentB · tentB · cavalcadeC · loudD · proudD · dismayedC
- 3 AABBCDDC resoundsA · boundsA · flitB · splitB · oaksC · fieldD · yieldD · strokesC
- 4 AABBCDDC disdainA · slainA · showB · overthrowB · mudC · heelD · steelD · thudC
- 5 AABBCDDC shredA · deadA · makeB · slakeB · noneC · dieD · highD · sunC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ho! hither flock, ye fowls of prey! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Ye wolves of war, make no delay! | 8 | ······˘/ |
| For foemen 'neath our blades shall fall | 8 | ····/··· |
| Ere night may veil with purple pall. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The evening psalms are nearly o'er, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And priests who follow in our train | 8 | ···/˘·/· |
| Have promised us the final gain, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And filled with faith our valiant corps. | 8 | ····//˘· |
| Let orphans weep, and widows brood! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To-morrow we shall wash the blood | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Off saw-gapped sword and lances bent, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| So, close the ranks and fire the tent! | 8 | ·····/·· |
| And chill yon coward cavalcade | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| With brazen bugles blaring loud, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| E'en though our chargers' neighing proud | 8 | ··//˘··· |
| Already has the host dismayed. | 8 | ˘/˘···˘/ |
| Spur, horsemen, spur! the charge resounds! | 8 | ·/˘····/ |
| On Gaelic spear the Northman bounds! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Through helmet plumes the arrows flit, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And plated breasts the pikeheads split. | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| The double-axe fells human oaks, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And like the thistles in the field | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| See bristling up (where none must yield!) | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The points hewn off by sweeping strokes! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| We, heroes all, our wounds disdain; | 8 | ·/˘·/·˘/ |
| Dismounted now, our horses slain, | 8 | ····//˘· |
| Yet we advance--more courage show, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Though stricken, seek to overthrow | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The victor-knights who tread in mud | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The writhing slaves who bite the heel, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| While on caparisons of steel | 8 | ········ |
| The maces thunder--cudgels thud! | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Should daggers fail hide-coats to shred, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Seize each your man and hug him dead! | 8 | ········ |
| Who falls unslain will only make | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A mouthful to the wolves who slake | 8 | ·/······ |
| Their month-whet thirst. No captives, none! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| We die or win! but should we die, | 8 | ········ |
| The lopped-off hand will wave on high | 8 | ········ |
| The broken brand to hail the sun! | 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.