Excelsior
The shades of night were falling fast,As through an Alpine village passedA youth, who bore, 'mid snow and ice,A banner with the strange device,Excelsior!
His brow was sad; his eye beneath,Flashed like a falchion from its sheath,And like a silver clarion rungThe accents of that unknown tongue,Excelsior!
In happy homes he saw the lightOf household fires gleam warm and bright;Above, the spectral glaciers shone,And from his lips escaped a groan,Excelsior!
"Try not the Pass!" the old man said:"Dark lowers the tempest overhead,The roaring torrent is deep and wide!And loud that clarion voice replied,Excelsior!
"Oh stay," the maiden said, "and restThy weary head upon this breast!"A tear stood in his bright blue eye,But still he answered, with a sigh,Excelsior!
"Beware the pine-tree's withered branch!Beware the awful avalanche!"This was the peasant's last Good-night,A voice replied, far up the height,Excelsior!
At break of day, as heavenwardThe pious monks of Saint BernardUttered the oft-repeated prayer,A voice cried through the startled air,Excelsior!
A traveller, by the faithful hound,Half-buried in the snow was found,Still grasping in his hand of iceThat banner with the strange device,Excelsior!
There in the twilight cold and gray,Lifeless, but beautiful, he lay,And from the sky, serene and far,A voice fell, like a falling star,Excelsior!
Words in this poem
- excelsior a.
- More lofty; still higher; ever upward. [L., compar. of excelsus elevated, lofty, p. p. of excellere. See Excel, v. t.]
- falchion n.
- A broad-bladed sword, slightly curved, shorter and lighter than the ordinary sword; -- used in the Middle Ages. [OE. fauchon, OF. fauchon, LL. fälcio, fr. L. falx, falcis, a sickle, cf. Gr. falcon; cf. It. falcione. Cf. Defalcation.]
- 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.]
- rung n.
- A floor timber in a ship. [OE. ronge, AS. hrung, a staff, rod, pole; akin to G. runge a short, thick piece of iron or wood, OD. ronghe a prop, support, Icel. röng a rib in a ship, Goth. H]
- beware v. t.
- To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for.
- avalanche n.
- A large mass or body of snow and ice sliding swiftly down a mountain side, or falling down a precipice. [F. avalanche, fr. avaler to descend, to let down, from aval down, downward; ad) + val, L. vallis, valley. See Valley.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Excelsior is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Excelsior, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/excelsior.html, id L17506.
Form and metre
Excelsior is 45 lines in 9 stanzas of 5 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 80% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 87% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.5 syllables. 11 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 16% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABB- fastA · passedA · iceB · deviceB · excelsior
- 2 AABB- beneathA · sheathA · rungB · tongueB · excelsior
- 3 AABB- lightA · brightA · shoneB · groanB · excelsior
- 4 AABB- saidA · overheadA · wideB · repliedB · excelsior
- 5 AABB- restA · breastA · eyeB · sighB · excelsior
- 6 AABB- branchA · avalancheA · nightB · heightB · excelsior
- 7 AABB- heavenwardA · bernardA · prayerB · airB · excelsior
- 8 AABB- houndA · foundA · iceB · deviceB · excelsior
- 9 AABB- grayA · layA · farB · starB · excelsior
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The shades of night were falling fast, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As through an Alpine village passed | 9 | ···/·/˘·˘ |
| A youth, who bore, 'mid snow and ice, | 8 | ········ |
| A banner with the strange device, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Excelsior! | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| His brow was sad; his eye beneath, | 8 | ········ |
| Flashed like a falchion from its sheath, | 9 | ·˘··/˘··· |
| And like a silver clarion rung | 9 | ···/˘/˘˘· |
| The accents of that unknown tongue, | 8 | ·/˘··˘/· |
| Excelsior! | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| In happy homes he saw the light | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Of household fires gleam warm and bright; | 9 | ·/·/˘···· |
| Above, the spectral glaciers shone, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And from his lips escaped a groan, | 9 | ····˘/˘·· |
| Excelsior! | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| "Try not the Pass!" the old man said: | 8 | ········ |
| "Dark lowers the tempest overhead, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘/˘/ |
| The roaring torrent is deep and wide! | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| And loud that clarion voice replied, | 9 | ···/˘˘·˘/ |
| Excelsior! | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| "Oh stay," the maiden said, "and rest | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thy weary head upon this breast!" | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A tear stood in his bright blue eye, | 8 | ········ |
| But still he answered, with a sigh, | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| Excelsior! | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| "Beware the pine-tree's withered branch! | 9 | ˘/···/˘˘· |
| Beware the awful avalanche!" | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| This was the peasant's last Good-night, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A voice replied, far up the height, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Excelsior! | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| At break of day, as heavenward | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| The pious monks of Saint Bernard | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Uttered the oft-repeated prayer, | 9 | /˘˘··˘/˘· |
| A voice cried through the startled air, | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Excelsior! | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| A traveller, by the faithful hound, | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| Half-buried in the snow was found, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Still grasping in his hand of ice | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That banner with the strange device, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Excelsior! | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| There in the twilight cold and gray, | 8 | ···/···· |
| Lifeless, but beautiful, he lay, | 8 | /˘·/˘˘·· |
| And from the sky, serene and far, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| A voice fell, like a falling star, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Excelsior! | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
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.