Victor Galbraith
Under the walls of MontereyAt daybreak the bugles began to play,Victor Galbraith!In the mist of the morning damp and gray,These were the words they seemed to say:"Come forth to thy death,Victor Galbraith!"
Forth he came, with a martial tread;Firm was his step, erect his head;Victor Galbraith,He who so well the bugle played,Could not mistake the words it said:"Come forth to thy death,Victor Galbraith!"
He looked at the earth, he looked at the sky,He looked at the files of musketry,Victor Galbraith!And he said, with a steady voice and eye,"Take good aim; I am ready to die!"Thus challenges deathVictor Galbraith.
Twelve fiery tongues flashed straight and red,Six leaden balls on their errand sped;Victor GalbraithFalls to the ground, but he is not dead;His name was not stamped on those balls of lead,And they only scathVictor Galbraith.
Three balls are in his breast and brain,But he rises out of the dust again,Victor Galbraith!The water he drinks has a bloody stain;"O kill me, and put me out of my pain!"In his agony prayethVictor Galbraith.
Forth dart once more those tongues of flame,And the bugler has died a death of shame,Victor Galbraith!His soul has gone back to whence it came,And no one answers to the name,When the Sergeant saith,"Victor Galbraith!"
Under the walls of MontereyBy night a bugle is heard to play,Victor Galbraith!Through the mist of the valley damp and grayThe sentinels hear the sound, and say,"That is the wraithOf Victor Galbraith!"
Words in this poem
- daybreak n.
- The time of the first appearance of light in the morning.
- musketry n.
- Muskets, collectively. [F. mousqueterie; cf. It. moschetteria.]
- scath n.
- Harm; damage; injury; hurt; waste; misfortune. [Icel. skathi; akin to Dan. skade, Sw. skada, AS. sceatha, scatha, foe, injurer, OS. skatho, D. schade, schaden; cf. Gr. Scathe, v.]
- bugler n.
- One who plays on a bugle.
- saith
- 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
- wraith n.
- An apparition of a person in his exact likeness, seen before death, or a little after; hence, an apparition; a specter; a vision; an unreal image. [Scot. wraith, warth; probably originally, a guardian angel, from Icel. vörthr a warden, guardian, akin to E. ward. See Ward a guard.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Victor Galbraith 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, Victor Galbraith, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/victor-galbraith.html, id L17626.
Form and metre
Victor Galbraith is 49 lines in 7 stanzas of 7 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABAABB, complete in 4 of its 7 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 3 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 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 AABAA-B montereyA · playA · galbraithB · grayA · sayA · death · galbraithB
- 2 AAB-A-B treadA · headA · galbraithB · played · saidA · death · galbraithB
- 3 A-BAA-B skyA · musketry · galbraithB · eyeA · dieA · death · galbraithB
- 4 AABAABB redA · spedA · galbraithB · deadA · leadA · scathB · galbraithB
- 5 AABAABB brainA · againA · galbraithB · stainA · painA · prayethB · galbraithB
- 6 AABAABB flameA · shameA · galbraithB · cameA · nameA · saithB · galbraithB
- 7 AABAABB montereyA · playA · galbraithB · grayA · sayA · wraithB · galbraithB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Under the walls of Monterey | 8 | ······˘/ |
| At daybreak the bugles began to play, | 10 | ·/··/˘˘/·· |
| Victor Galbraith! | 4 | /˘/· |
| In the mist of the morning damp and gray, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| These were the words they seemed to say: | 8 | ········ |
| "Come forth to thy death, | 5 | ····· |
| Victor Galbraith!" | 4 | /˘/· |
| Forth he came, with a martial tread; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Firm was his step, erect his head; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Victor Galbraith, | 4 | /˘/· |
| He who so well the bugle played, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Could not mistake the words it said: | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| "Come forth to thy death, | 5 | ····· |
| Victor Galbraith!" | 4 | /˘/· |
| He looked at the earth, he looked at the sky, | 10 | ·········· |
| He looked at the files of musketry, | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| Victor Galbraith! | 4 | /˘/· |
| And he said, with a steady voice and eye, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| "Take good aim; I am ready to die!" | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Thus challenges death | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| Victor Galbraith. | 4 | /˘/· |
| Twelve fiery tongues flashed straight and red, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Six leaden balls on their errand sped; | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Victor Galbraith | 4 | /˘/· |
| Falls to the ground, but he is not dead; | 9 | ········· |
| His name was not stamped on those balls of lead, | 10 | ·········· |
| And they only scath | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Victor Galbraith. | 4 | /˘/· |
| Three balls are in his breast and brain, | 8 | ········ |
| But he rises out of the dust again, | 10 | ··/˘····˘/ |
| Victor Galbraith! | 4 | /˘/· |
| The water he drinks has a bloody stain; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| "O kill me, and put me out of my pain!" | 10 | ·········· |
| In his agony prayeth | 7 | ··/˘˘/˘ |
| Victor Galbraith. | 4 | /˘/· |
| Forth dart once more those tongues of flame, | 8 | ········ |
| And the bugler has died a death of shame, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| Victor Galbraith! | 4 | /˘/· |
| His soul has gone back to whence it came, | 9 | ········· |
| And no one answers to the name, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| When the Sergeant saith, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| "Victor Galbraith!" | 4 | /˘/· |
| Under the walls of Monterey | 8 | ······˘/ |
| By night a bugle is heard to play, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Victor Galbraith! | 4 | /˘/· |
| Through the mist of the valley damp and gray | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The sentinels hear the sound, and say, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "That is the wraith | 4 | ···· |
| Of Victor Galbraith!" | 5 | ·/˘/· |
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.