A Guard of the Sepulchre
I was a Roman soldier in my prime;Now age is on me and the yoke of time.I saw your Risen Christ, for I am heWho reached the hyssop to Him on the tree;And I am one of two who watched besideThe Sepulchre of Him we crucified.
All that last night I watched with sleepless eyes;Great stars arose and crept across the skies.The world was all too still for mortal rest,For pitiless thoughts were busy in the breast.The night was long, so long, it seemed at lastI had grown old and a long life had passed.Far off the hills of Moab, touched with light,Were swimming in the hollow of the night.I saw Jerusalem all wrapped in cloud,Stretched like a dead thing folded in a shroud.
Once in the pauses of our whispered talk,I heard a something on the garden walk.Perhaps it was a crisp leaf lightly stirred—Perhaps the dream-note of a waking bird.Then suddenly an angel burning whiteCame down with earthquake in the breaking light,And rolled the great stone from the Sepulchre,Mixing the morning with a scent of myrrh.And lo, the Dead had risen with the day:The Man of Mystery had gone His way!
Years have I wandered, carrying my shame;Now let the Tooth of Time eat out my name.For we, who all the Wonder might have told,Kept silence, for our mouths were stopt with gold.
Words in this poem
- hyssop n.
- A plant (Hyssopus officinalis). The leaves have an aromatic smell, and a warm, pungent taste. [OE. hysope, ysope, OF. ysope, F. hysope, hyssope, L. hysopum, hyssopum, hyssopus, Gr. esov.]
- sepulchre n.
- The place in which the dead body of a human being is interred, or a place set apart for that purpose; a grave; a tomb. [OE. sepulcre, OF. sepulcre, F. sépulcre, fr. L. sepulcrum, sepulchrum, fr. sepelire to bury.]
- sleepless a.
- Having no sleep; wakeful.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Guard of the Sepulchre is in the public domain. This text is taken from Lincoln & other poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #54527; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edwin Markham, A Guard of the Sepulchre, in Lincoln and Other Poems (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54527, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/markham-lincoln/a-guard-of-the-sepulchre.html, id L10822.
Form and metre
A Guard of the Sepulchre is 30 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 93% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 13% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 AABBCC primeA · timeA · heB · treeB · besideC · crucifiedC
- 2 AABBCCDDEE eyesA · skiesA · restB · breastB · lastC · passedC · lightD · nightD · cloudE · shroudE
- 3 AABBCC--DD talkA · walkA · stirredB · birdB · whiteC · lightC · sepulchre · myrrh · dayD · wayD
- 4 AABB shameA · nameA · toldB · goldB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I was a Roman soldier in my prime; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Now age is on me and the yoke of time. | 10 | ·········· |
| I saw your Risen Christ, for I am he | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Who reached the hyssop to Him on the tree; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And I am one of two who watched beside | 10 | ········˘/ |
| The Sepulchre of Him we crucified. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| All that last night I watched with sleepless eyes; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Great stars arose and crept across the skies. | 10 | ··˘/··˘/·· |
| The world was all too still for mortal rest, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| For pitiless thoughts were busy in the breast. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| The night was long, so long, it seemed at last | 10 | ·········· |
| I had grown old and a long life had passed. | 10 | ·········· |
| Far off the hills of Moab, touched with light, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Were swimming in the hollow of the night. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| I saw Jerusalem all wrapped in cloud, | 10 | ··˘/˘˘···· |
| Stretched like a dead thing folded in a shroud. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Once in the pauses of our whispered talk, | 10 | ···/˘·//˘· |
| I heard a something on the garden walk. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Perhaps it was a crisp leaf lightly stirred— | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| Perhaps the dream-note of a waking bird. | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| Then suddenly an angel burning white | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘/˘· |
| Came down with earthquake in the breaking light, | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| And rolled the great stone from the Sepulchre, | 10 | ··˘······· |
| Mixing the morning with a scent of myrrh. | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| And lo, the Dead had risen with the day: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The Man of Mystery had gone His way! | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| Years have I wandered, carrying my shame; | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| Now let the Tooth of Time eat out my name. | 10 | ·········· |
| For we, who all the Wonder might have told, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Kept silence, for our mouths were stopt with gold. | 10 | ·/˘·/····· |
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.