Dreyfus I
A man stood stained! France was one Alp of hate,Pressing upon him with its iron weight.In all the circle of the ancient sun,There was no voice to speak for him—not one.In all the world of men there was no soundBut of a sword flung broken to the ground.“‘Tis done!” they said, “unless a felon soulCan tear the leaves out of the Judgment Scroll.”
Hell laughed a little season, then beholdHow one by one the gates of God unfold!Swiftly a sword by Unseen Forces hurled,And then a man rising against the world!
Words in this poem
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Dreyfus I 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, Dreyfus I, in Lincoln and Other Poems (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54527, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/markham-lincoln/dreyfus-i.html, id L10808.
Form and metre
Dreyfus I is 12 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 AABBCCDD hateA · weightA · sunB · oneB · soundC · groundC · soulD · scrollD
- 2 AABB beholdA · unfoldA · hurledB · worldB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A man stood stained! France was one Alp of hate, | 10 | ·········· |
| Pressing upon him with its iron weight. | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| In all the circle of the ancient sun, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| There was no voice to speak for him—not one. | 10 | ·········· |
| In all the world of men there was no sound | 10 | ·········· |
| But of a sword flung broken to the ground. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| “‘Tis done!” they said, “unless a felon soul | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Can tear the leaves out of the Judgment Scroll.” | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Hell laughed a little season, then behold | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| How one by one the gates of God unfold! | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Swiftly a sword by Unseen Forces hurled, | 10 | /˘···˘//˘· |
| And then a man rising against the world! | 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.