Galahad, Knight Who Perished
A Poem Dedicated to All Crusaders against the International and InterstateTraffic in Young Girls
Galahad... soldier that perished... ages ago,Our hearts are breaking with shame, our tears overflow.Galahad... knight who perished... awaken again,Teach us to fight for immaculate ways among men.Soldiers fantastic, we pray to the star of the sea,We pray to the mother of God that the bound may be free.Rose-crowned lady from heaven, give us thy grace,Help us the intricate, desperate battle to faceTill the leer of the trader is seen nevermore in the land,Till we bring every maid of the age to one sheltering hand.Ah, they are priceless, the pale and the ivory and red!Breathless we gaze on the curls of each glorious head!Arm them with strength mediaeval, thy marvellous dower,Blast now their tempters, shelter their steps with thy power.Leave not life's fairest to perish--strangers to thee,Let not the weakest be shipwrecked, oh, star of the sea!
Words in this poem
- interstate a.
- Pertaining to the mutual relations of States; existing between, or including, different States; as, interstate commerce. Story.
- immaculate a.
- Without stain or blemish; spotless; undefiled; clear; pure. [L. immaculatus; pref. im- not + maculatus, p. p. of maculare to spot, stane, fr. macula spot. See Mail armor.]
- desperate a.
- Without hope; given to despair; hopeless. [L. desperatus, p. p. of desperare. See Despair, and cf. Desperado.]
- nevermore adv.
- Never again; at no time hereafter. Testament of Love. Tyndale.
- priceless a.
- Too valuable to admit of being appraised; of inestimable worth; invaluable.
- breathless a.
- Spent with labor or violent action; out of breath.
- 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.]
- mediaeval a.
- Of or relating to the Middle Ages; as, mediæval architecture. [L. medius middle + aevum age. See Middle, and Age.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Galahad, Knight Who Perished is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Congo, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #1021; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Vachel Lindsay, Galahad, Knight Who Perished, in The Congo and Other Poems (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1021, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lindsay-congo/galahad-knight-who-perished.html, id L00951.
Form and metre
Galahad, Knight Who Perished is 18 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 78% of the lines. 80% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.4 syllables. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets.
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.
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFF--CC agoA · overflowA · againB · menB · seaC · freeC · graceD · faceD · landE · handE · redF · headF · dower · power · theeC · seaC
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A Poem Dedicated to All Crusaders against the International and Interstate | 20 | ·//˘··˘/˘····˘/˘··˘/ |
| Traffic in Young Girls | 5 | /˘··· |
| Galahad... soldier that perished... ages ago, | 12 | /˘·/˘·/˘/˘˘/ |
| Our hearts are breaking with shame, our tears overflow. | 12 | /··/˘··/·/˘· |
| Galahad... knight who perished... awaken again, | 12 | /˘···/˘˘/˘˘/ |
| Teach us to fight for immaculate ways among men. | 12 | ·····˘/˘···· |
| Soldiers fantastic, we pray to the star of the sea, | 13 | /˘˘/˘········ |
| We pray to the mother of God that the bound may be free. | 14 | ····/˘········ |
| Rose-crowned lady from heaven, give us thy grace, | 10 | ··/˘·/···· |
| Help us the intricate, desperate battle to face | 11 | ···/˘/˘/˘·· |
| Till the leer of the trader is seen nevermore in the land, | 15 | ·····/˘··/˘···· |
| Till we bring every maid of the age to one sheltering hand. | 14 | ···/˘······/˘· |
| Ah, they are priceless, the pale and the ivory and red! | 13 | ···/˘····/˘·· |
| Breathless we gaze on the curls of each glorious head! | 12 | /˘·······/˘· |
| Arm them with strength mediaeval, thy marvellous dower, | 12 | ············ |
| Blast now their tempters, shelter their steps with thy power. | 12 | ·····/˘····/ |
| Leave not life's fairest to perish--strangers to thee, | 12 | ···/˘·/˘/˘·· |
| Let not the weakest be shipwrecked, oh, star of the sea! | 13 | ···/˘·/˘····· |
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.