The Cup on the Battle-Field
My sire, the hero with the smile so soft,And a tall trooper, his companion oft,Whom he loved greatly for his courage highAnd strength and stature, as the night drew nighRode out together. The battle was done;The dead strewed the field; long sunk was the sun.It seemed in the darkness a sound they heard,--Was it feeble moaning or uttered word?'Twas a Spaniard left from the force in flight,Who had crawled to the roadside after fight;Shattered and livid, less live than dead,Rattled his throat as hoarsely he said:"Water, water to drink, for pity's sake!Oh, a drop of water this thirst to slake!"My father, moved at his speech heart-wrung,Handed the orderly, downward leapt,The flask of rum at the holster kept."Let him have some!" cried my father, as ranThe trooper o'er to the wounded man,--A sort of Moor, swart, bloody and grim;But just as the trooper was nearing him,He lifted a pistol, with eye of flame,And covered my father with murd'rous aim.The hurtling slug grazed the very head,And the helmet fell, pierced, streaked with red,And the steed reared up; but in steady tone:"Give him the whole!" said my father, "and on!"
Words in this poem
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- trooper n.
- A soldier in a body of cavalry; a cavalryman; also, the horse of a cavalryman.
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- spaniard n.
- A native or inhabitant of Spain.
- roadside n.
- Land adjoining a road or highway; the part of a road or highway that borders the traveled part. Also used ajectively.
- hoarsely adv.
- With a harsh, grating sound or voice.
- holster n.
- A leather case for a pistol, carried by a horseman at the bow of his saddle. [D. holster; skin to AS. heolstor den, cave, fr.helan to conceal, and to Icel. hulstr case, Goth.hulistr covering, veil, huljan to cover. sq. root17. See Hele to]
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Cup on the Battle-Field 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, The Cup on the Battle-Field, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/the-cup-on-the-battle-field.html, id L26830.
Form and metre
The Cup on the Battle-Field is 27 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 52% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 75%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGG-HHIIJJKKFF-- softA · oftA · highB · nighB · doneC · sunC · heardD · wordD · flightE · fightE · deadF · saidF · sakeG · slakeG · wrung · leaptH · keptH · ranI · manI · grimJ · himJ · flameK · aimK · headF · redF · tone · on
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 |
|---|---|---|
| My sire, the hero with the smile so soft, | 10 | ·/·/˘····· |
| And a tall trooper, his companion oft, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Whom he loved greatly for his courage high | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And strength and stature, as the night drew nigh | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Rode out together. The battle was done; | 10 | ··˘/˘·/˘·· |
| The dead strewed the field; long sunk was the sun. | 10 | ·········· |
| It seemed in the darkness a sound they heard,-- | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Was it feeble moaning or uttered word? | 10 | ··/˘/˘·/˘· |
| 'Twas a Spaniard left from the force in flight, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| Who had crawled to the roadside after fight; | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Shattered and livid, less live than dead, | 10 | /˘˘·/˘···· |
| Rattled his throat as hoarsely he said: | 10 | /˘˘···/˘·· |
| "Water, water to drink, for pity's sake! | 10 | /˘/˘···/˘· |
| Oh, a drop of water this thirst to slake!" | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| My father, moved at his speech heart-wrung, | 10 | ·/˘·˘····· |
| Handed the orderly, downward leapt, | 9 | /˘·/˘˘/˘· |
| The flask of rum at the holster kept. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| "Let him have some!" cried my father, as ran | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| The trooper o'er to the wounded man,-- | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| A sort of Moor, swart, bloody and grim; | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| But just as the trooper was nearing him, | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| He lifted a pistol, with eye of flame, | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| And covered my father with murd'rous aim. | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| The hurtling slug grazed the very head, | 10 | ·/˘··˘·/˘· |
| And the helmet fell, pierced, streaked with red, | 10 | ··/˘··˘··· |
| And the steed reared up; but in steady tone: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| "Give him the whole!" said my father, "and on!" | 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.