The Trumpets of the Mind
Sound, sound for ever, Clarions of Thought!
When Joshua 'gainst the high-walled city fought,He marched around it with his banner high,His troops in serried order following nigh,But not a sword was drawn, no shaft outsprang,Only the trumpets the shrill onset rang.At the first blast, smiled scornfully the king,And at the second sneered, half wondering:"Hop'st thou with noise my stronghold to break down?"At the third round, the ark of old renownSwept forward, still the trumpets sounding loud,And then the troops with ensigns waving proud.Stepped out upon the old walls children darkWith horns to mock the notes and hoot the ark.At the fourth turn, braving the Israelites,Women appeared upon the crenelated heights--Those battlements embrowned with age and rust--And hurled upon the Hebrews stones and dust,And spun and sang when weary of the game.At the fifth circuit came the blind and lame,And with wild uproar clamorous and highRailed at the clarion ringing to the sky.At the sixth time, upon a tower's tall crest,So high that there the eagle built his nest,So hard that on it lightning lit in vain,Appeared in merriment the king again:"These Hebrew Jews musicians are, meseems!"He scoffed, loud laughing, "but they live on dreams."The princes laughed submissive to the king,Laughed all the courtiers in their glittering ring,And thence the laughter spread through all the town.
At the seventh blast--the city walls fell down.
Words in this poem
- serried a.
- Crowded; compact; dense; pressed together. [See Serry.]
- trumpets n.
- A plant (Sarracenia flava) with long, hollow leaves.
- hoot v. i.
- To cry out or shout in contempt. [OE. hoten, houten, huten; cf. OSw. huta, Sw. huta ut to take one up sharply, fr. Sw. hut interj., begone! cf. also W. hwt off! off with it! away! hoot!]
- braving n.
- A bravado; a boast.
- 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.]
- meseems v.
- It seems to me.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Trumpets of the Mind 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 Trumpets of the Mind, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/the-trumpets-of-the-mind.html, id L26804.
Form and metre
The Trumpets of the Mind is 32 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 75% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
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 A thoughtA
- 2 ABBCC--DDEEFFGGHHIIJJKK--LLMMN foughtA · highB · nighB · outsprangC · rangC · king · wondering · downD · renownD · loudE · proudE · darkF · arkF · israelitesG · heightsG · rustH · dustH · gameI · lameI · highJ · skyJ · crestK · nestK · vain · again · meseemsL · dreamsL · kingM · ringM · townN
- 3 N downN
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sound, sound for ever, Clarions of Thought! | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| When Joshua 'gainst the high-walled city fought, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| He marched around it with his banner high, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| His troops in serried order following nigh, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| But not a sword was drawn, no shaft outsprang, | 10 | ·········· |
| Only the trumpets the shrill onset rang. | 10 | /˘·/˘··/·· |
| At the first blast, smiled scornfully the king, | 10 | ·········· |
| And at the second sneered, half wondering: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| "Hop'st thou with noise my stronghold to break down?" | 10 | ·····/···· |
| At the third round, the ark of old renown | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Swept forward, still the trumpets sounding loud, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| And then the troops with ensigns waving proud. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Stepped out upon the old walls children dark | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| With horns to mock the notes and hoot the ark. | 10 | ·········· |
| At the fourth turn, braving the Israelites, | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| Women appeared upon the crenelated heights-- | 12 | /˘˘/···/˘·˘· |
| Those battlements embrowned with age and rust-- | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| And hurled upon the Hebrews stones and dust, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And spun and sang when weary of the game. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| At the fifth circuit came the blind and lame, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And with wild uproar clamorous and high | 10 | ···/·/˘˘·· |
| Railed at the clarion ringing to the sky. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| At the sixth time, upon a tower's tall crest, | 10 | ·······/·· |
| So high that there the eagle built his nest, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| So hard that on it lightning lit in vain, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Appeared in merriment the king again: | 10 | ˘/·/˘˘··˘/ |
| "These Hebrew Jews musicians are, meseems!" | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘·˘/ |
| He scoffed, loud laughing, "but they live on dreams." | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The princes laughed submissive to the king, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| Laughed all the courtiers in their glittering ring, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And thence the laughter spread through all the town. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| At the seventh blast--the city walls fell down. | 11 | ··/˘··/˘··· |
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.