Song of the German Lanzknecht
Flourish the trumpet! and rattle the drum!The Reiters are mounted! the Reiters will come!
When our bullets cease singingAnd long swords cease ringingOn backplates of fearsomest foes in full flight,We'll dig up their dollarsTo string for girls' collars--They'll jingle around them before it is night!When flourish the trumpets, etc.
We're the Emperor's winnersOf right royal dinners,Where cities are served up and flanked by estates,While we wallow in claret,Knowing not how to spare it,Though beer is less likely to muddle our pates--While flourish the trumpets, etc.
Gods of battle! red-handed!Wise it was to have bandedSuch arms as are these for embracing of gain!Hearken to each war-vultureCrying, "Down with all cultureOf land or religion!" Hoch! to our refrainOf flourish the trumpets, etc.
Give us "bones of the devil"To exchange in our revelThe ingot, the gem, and yellow doubloon;Coronets are but playthings--We reck not who say thingsWhen the Reiters have ridden to death! none too soon!--To flourish of trumpet and rattle of drum,The Reiters will finish as firm as they come!
Words in this poem
- jingle v. i.
- To sound with a fine, sharp, rattling, clinking, or tinkling sound; as, sleigh bells jingle. [OE. gingelen, ginglen; prob. akin to E. chink; cf. also E. jangle.]
- trumpets n.
- A plant (Sarracenia flava) with long, hollow leaves.
- claret n.
- The name firat given in England to the red wines of M [OE. claret, clare, clarry, OF. claret, clar, fr. cler, F. clair, clear, fr. L. clarus clear. See Clear.]
- muddle v. t.
- To make turbid, or muddy, as water. [From Mud.]
- ingot n.
- That in which metal is cast; a mold. [Prob. from AS. in in + geótan to pour: cf. F. linglot, LL. lingotus a mass of gold or silver, extended in the manner of a tongue, and G. einguss, LG. & OE. ingo]
- doubloon n.
- A Spanish gold coin, no longer issued, varying in value at different times from over fifteen dollars to about five. See Doblon in Sup. [F. doublon, Sp. doblon. See Double, a., and cf. Dupion.]
- reck v. t.
- To make account of; to care for; to heed; to regard. [AS. reccan, remccan, to care for; akin to OS. rokian, OHG. ruochan, G. geruhen, Icel. rækja, also to E. reckon, rake an implement. See Rake, and cf. Reckon.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song of the German Lanzknecht 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, Song of the German Lanzknecht, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/song-of-the-german-lanzknecht.html, id L26822.
Form and metre
Song of the German Lanzknecht is 31 lines in 5 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AA drumA · comeA
- 2 AABCCB- singingA · ringingA · flightB · dollarsC · collarsC · nightB · etc
- 3 AAB--B- winnersA · dinnersA · estatesB · claret · it · patesB · etc
- 4 AABCCB- handedA · bandedA · gainB · vultureC · cultureC · refrainB · etc
- 5 AABCCBDD devilA · revelA · doubloonB · playthingsC · thingsC · soonB · drumD · comeD
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Flourish the trumpet! and rattle the drum! | 10 | /˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| The Reiters are mounted! the Reiters will come! | 10 | ·/·/˘·/˘·· |
| When our bullets cease singing | 8 | ·/˘/˘·/˘ |
| And long swords cease ringing | 6 | ····/˘ |
| On backplates of fearsomest foes in full flight, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| We'll dig up their dollars | 6 | ····/˘ |
| To string for girls' collars-- | 6 | ····/˘ |
| They'll jingle around them before it is night! | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| When flourish the trumpets, etc. | 10 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘˘ |
| We're the Emperor's winners | 7 | ··/˘˘/˘ |
| Of right royal dinners, | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Where cities are served up and flanked by estates, | 11 | ·/˘······˘/ |
| While we wallow in claret, | 7 | ··/˘·/˘ |
| Knowing not how to spare it, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Though beer is less likely to muddle our pates-- | 11 | ····/˘·/˘/· |
| While flourish the trumpets, etc. | 10 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘˘ |
| Gods of battle! red-handed! | 7 | ··/˘·/˘ |
| Wise it was to have banded | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Such arms as are these for embracing of gain! | 11 | ······˘/˘·· |
| Hearken to each war-vulture | 7 | /˘···/˘ |
| Crying, "Down with all culture | 7 | /˘···/˘ |
| Of land or religion!" Hoch! to our refrain | 11 | ···˘/˘··/˘/ |
| Of flourish the trumpets, etc. | 10 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘˘ |
| Give us "bones of the devil" | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| To exchange in our revel | 8 | ·˘/·/˘/˘ |
| The ingot, the gem, and yellow doubloon; | 10 | ·/˘···/˘˘/ |
| Coronets are but playthings-- | 7 | /˘/··/· |
| We reck not who say things | 6 | ······ |
| When the Reiters have ridden to death! none too soon!-- | 11 | ··/·/˘····· |
| To flourish of trumpet and rattle of drum, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| The Reiters will finish as firm as they come! | 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.