King Olaf's War-Horns
"Strike the sails!" King Olaf said;"Never shall men of mine take flight;Never away from battle I fled,Never away from my foes!Let God disposeOf my life in the fight!"
"Sound the horns!" said Olaf the King;And suddenly through the drifting brumeThe blare of the horns began to ring,Like the terrible trumpet shockOf Regnarock,On the Day of Doom!
Louder and louder the war-horns sangOver the level floor of the flood;All the sails came down with a clang,And there in the mist overheadThe sun hung redAs a drop of blood.
Drifting down on the Danish fleetThree together the ships were lashed,So that neither should turn and retreat;In the midst, but in front of the restThe burnished crestOf the Serpent flashed.
King Olaf stood on the quarter-deck,With bow of ash and arrows of oak,His gilded shield was without a fleck,His helmet inlaid with gold,And in many a foldHung his crimson cloak.
On the forecastle Ulf the RedWatched the lashing of the ships;"If the Serpent lie so far ahead,We shall have hard work of it here,Said he with a sneerOn his bearded lips.
King Olaf laid an arrow on string,"Have I a coward on board?" said he."Shoot it another way, O King!"Sullenly answered Ulf,The old sea-wolf;"You have need of me!"
In front came Svend, the King of the Danes,Sweeping down with his fifty rowers;To the right, the Swedish king with his thanes;And on board of the Iron BeardEarl Eric steeredTo the left with his oars.
"These soft Danes and Swedes," said the King,"At home with their wives had better stay,Than come within reach of my Serpent's sting:But where Eric the Norseman leadsHeroic deedsWill be done to-day!"
Then as together the vessels crashed,Eric severed the cables of hide,With which King Olaf's ships were lashed,And left them to drive and driftWith the currents swiftOf the outward tide.
Louder the war-horns growl and snarl,Sharper the dragons bite and sting!Eric the son of Hakon JarlA death-drink salt as the seaPledges to thee,Olaf the King!
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- brume n.
- Mist; fog; vapors. [F. brume winter season, mist, L. bruma winter.]
- blare v. i.
- To sound loudly and somewhat harshly. [OE. blaren, bloren, to cry, woop; cf. G. plärren to bleat, D. blaren to bleat, cry, weep. Prob. an imitative word, but cf. also E. blast. Cf. Blore.]
- clang v. t.
- To strike together so as to produce a ringing metallic sound. [L. clangere; akin to Gr. clank.]
- fleck n.
- A flake; also, a lock, as of wool. J. Martin.
- lashing n.
- The act of one who, or that which, lashes; castigation; chastisement. South. Lashing out, a striking out; also, extravagance.
- ahead adv.
- In or to the front; in advance; onward. [Pref. a- + head.]
- eric n.
- A recompense formerly given by a murderer to the relatives of the murdered person. [Ir. eiric.]
- norseman n.
- One of the ancient Scandinavians; a Northman.
- jarl n.
- A chief; an earl; in English history, one of the leaders in the Danish and Norse invasions. [Icel., nobleman, chief. See Earl.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
King Olaf's War-Horns 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, King Olaf's War-Horns, in A Psalm of Life, and Other Poems (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/king-olaf-s-war-horns.html, id L17671.
Form and metre
King Olaf's War-Horns is 66 lines in 11 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABACCB, complete in 10 of its 11 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 75%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 30% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABACCB saidA · flightB · fledA · foesC · disposeC · fightB
- 2 ABACCB kingA · brumeB · ringA · shockC · regnarockC · doomB
- 3 ABACCB sangA · floodB · clangA · overheadC · redC · bloodB
- 4 ABACCB fleetA · lashedB · retreatA · restC · crestC · flashedB
- 5 ABACCB deckA · oakB · fleckA · goldC · foldC · cloakB
- 6 ABACCB redA · shipsB · aheadA · hereC · sneerC · lipsB
- 7 ABACCB stringA · heB · kingA · ulfC · wolfC · meB
- 8 ---AA- danes · rowers · thanes · beardA · steeredA · oars
- 9 ABACCB kingA · stayB · stingA · leadsC · deedsC · dayB
- 10 ABACCB crashedA · hideB · lashedA · driftC · swiftC · tideB
- 11 ABACCB snarlA · stingB · jarlA · seaC · theeC · kingB
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| "Strike the sails!" King Olaf said; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| "Never shall men of mine take flight; | 8 | /˘······ |
| Never away from battle I fled, | 8 | /˘/·/˘·· |
| Never away from my foes! | 7 | /˘˘/··· |
| Let God dispose | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Of my life in the fight!" | 6 | ······ |
| "Sound the horns!" said Olaf the King; | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| And suddenly through the drifting brume | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The blare of the horns began to ring, | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
| Like the terrible trumpet shock | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘· |
| Of Regnarock, | 4 | ···· |
| On the Day of Doom! | 5 | ····· |
| Louder and louder the war-horns sang | 8 | /·/˘···· |
| Over the level floor of the flood; | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| All the sails came down with a clang, | 8 | ········ |
| And there in the mist overhead | 8 | ·····/˘/ |
| The sun hung red | 4 | ···· |
| As a drop of blood. | 5 | ····· |
| Drifting down on the Danish fleet | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Three together the ships were lashed, | 8 | ·˘/˘···· |
| So that neither should turn and retreat; | 9 | ··/˘···˘/ |
| In the midst, but in front of the rest | 9 | ········· |
| The burnished crest | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Of the Serpent flashed. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| King Olaf stood on the quarter-deck, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| With bow of ash and arrows of oak, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| His gilded shield was without a fleck, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| His helmet inlaid with gold, | 7 | ·/˘/··· |
| And in many a fold | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Hung his crimson cloak. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| On the forecastle Ulf the Red | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Watched the lashing of the ships; | 8 | ·˘·/˘··· |
| "If the Serpent lie so far ahead, | 9 | ··/˘···˘/ |
| We shall have hard work of it here, | 8 | ········ |
| Said he with a sneer | 5 | ····· |
| On his bearded lips. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| King Olaf laid an arrow on string, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘·· |
| "Have I a coward on board?" said he. | 8 | ···/···· |
| "Shoot it another way, O King!" | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Sullenly answered Ulf, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| The old sea-wolf; | 4 | ···· |
| "You have need of me!" | 5 | ····· |
| In front came Svend, the King of the Danes, | 9 | ········· |
| Sweeping down with his fifty rowers; | 9 | /˘···/˘/˘ |
| To the right, the Swedish king with his thanes; | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| And on board of the Iron Beard | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Earl Eric steered | 4 | ·/˘· |
| To the left with his oars. | 6 | ······ |
| "These soft Danes and Swedes," said the King, | 8 | ········ |
| "At home with their wives had better stay, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Than come within reach of my Serpent's sting: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But where Eric the Norseman leads | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Heroic deeds | 4 | ˘/˘· |
| Will be done to-day!" | 5 | ····· |
| Then as together the vessels crashed, | 9 | ··˘/˘·/˘· |
| Eric severed the cables of hide, | 9 | /˘/˘·/˘·· |
| With which King Olaf's ships were lashed, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And left them to drive and drift | 7 | ······· |
| With the currents swift | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Of the outward tide. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Louder the war-horns growl and snarl, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Sharper the dragons bite and sting! | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Eric the son of Hakon Jarl | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| A death-drink salt as the sea | 7 | ······· |
| Pledges to thee, | 4 | /˘·· |
| Olaf the King! | 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.