Our Deathless Dead
How shall we honor them, our Deathless Dead?With strew of laurel and the stately tread?With blaze of banners brightening overhead?Nay, not alone these cheaper praises bring:They will not have this easy honoring.
Not all our cannon, breaking the blue noon,Not the rare reliquary, writ with rune,Not all the iterance of our reverent cheers,Not all sad bugles blown,Can honor them grown saintlier with the years.Nor can we praise aloneIn the majestic reticence of stone:Not even our lyric tearsCan honor them, passed upward to their spheres.Nay, we must meet our august hour of fateAs they met theirs; and this will consecrate,This honor them, this stir their souls afar,Where they are climbing to an ampler star.
The soaring pillar and the epic boast,The flaring pageant and the storied pileMay parley with Oblivion awhile,To save some Sargon of the fading host;But these are vain to holdAgainst the slow creep of the patient mold,The noiseless drill of the erasing rust:The pomp, the arch, the scroll cannot beguileThe ever-circling Destinies that mustMix king and clown into one rabble dust.
No name of mortal is secure in stone:Hewn on the Parthenon, the name will waste;Carved on the Pyramid, ‘twill be effaced.In the heroic deed and there alone,Is man’s one hold against the craft of Time,That humbles into dust the shaft sublime—That mixes sculptured Karnak with the sands,unannealed, blown about the Libyan lands.And for the high, heroic deeds of men,There is no crown of praise but deed again.Only the heart-quick praise, the praise of deed,Is faithful praise for the heroic breed.
How shall we honor them, our Deathless Dead?How keep their mighty memories alive?In him who feels their passion, they survive!Flatter their souls with deed, and all is said!In the heroic soul their souls createIs raised remembrance past the reach of fate.The will to serve and bear,The will to love and dare,And take for God unprofitable risk—These things, these things will utter praise and pæanLouder than lyric thunders Æschylean;These things will build our dead unwasting obelisk.
Words in this poem 15
- 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,]
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
- reliquary n.
- A depositary, often a small box or casket, in which relics are kept. [LL.reliquiarium, reliquiare: cf. F. reliquaire. See Relic.]
- rune n.
- A letter, or character, belonging to the written language of the ancient Norsemen, or Scandinavians; in a wider sense, applied to the letters of the ancient nations of Northern Europe in general. [AS. run a rune, a secret, a mystery; akin to Icel. run, OHG. & Goth. runa a secret, secret colloquy, G. & Dan. rune rune, and probably to Gr. 'ereyna^n to searc]
- reticence n.
- The quality or state of being reticent, or keeping silence; the state of holding one's tonque; refraining to speak of that which is suggested; uncommunicativeness. [L. reticentia: cf. F. réticence.]
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- pageant n.
- A theatrical exhibition; a spectacle. [OE. pagent, pagen, originally, a movable scaffold or stage, hence, what was exhibited on it, fr. LL. pagina, akin to pangere to fasten; cf. L. pagina page, leaf]
- storied a.
- Told in a story. [From Story.]
- oblivion n.
- The act of forgetting, or the state of being forgotten; cessation of remembrance; forgetfulness. [L. oblivio, akin to oblivisci to forget: cf. OF. oblivion.]
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
- twill v. i.
- To weave, as cloth, so as to produce the appearance of diagonal lines or ribs on the surface. [Scotch tweel; probably from LG. twillen to make double, from twi- two; akin to AS. twi-, E. twi- in twilight. See Twice, and cf. Tweed, Tweel.]
- craft n.
- Strength; might; secret power. [AS. cr strength, skill, art, cunning; akin to OS., G., Sw., & Dan. kraft strength, D. kracht, Icel. kraptr; perh. originally, a drawing together, stretching, fr]
- humbles n.
- Entrails of a deer. Johnson. [See Nombles.]
- libyan a.
- Of or pertaining to Libya, the ancient name of that part of Africa between Egypt and the Atlantic Ocean, or of Africa as a whole.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Our Deathless Dead 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, Our Deathless Dead, in Lincoln and Other Poems (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54527, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/markham-lincoln/our-deathless-dead.html, id L10795.
Form and metre
Our Deathless Dead is 52 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 54% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.6 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% 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 AAABB deadA · treadA · overheadA · bringB · honoringB
- 2 AABCBCCBBDDEE noonA · runeA · cheersB · blownC · yearsB · aloneC · stoneC · tearsB · spheresB · fateD · consecrateD · afarE · starE
- 3 ABBACCDBDD boastA · pileB · awhileB · hostA · holdC · moldC · rustD · beguileB · mustD · dustD
- 4 A--ABBCCDDEE stoneA · waste · effaced · aloneA · timeB · sublimeB · sandsC · landsC · menD · againD · deedE · breedE
- 5 ABBACCDDE--E deadA · aliveB · surviveB · saidA · createC · fateC · bearD · dareD · riskE · pæan · æschylean · obeliskE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| How shall we honor them, our Deathless Dead? | 10 | ···/˘·//˘· |
| With strew of laurel and the stately tread? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| With blaze of banners brightening overhead? | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘/ |
| Nay, not alone these cheaper praises bring: | 10 | ··˘/·/˘/˘· |
| They will not have this easy honoring. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Not all our cannon, breaking the blue noon, | 10 | ··//˘/˘··· |
| Not the rare reliquary, writ with rune, | 10 | ···/˘˘˘··· |
| Not all the iterance of our reverent cheers, | 11 | ···/˘˘·//˘· |
| Not all sad bugles blown, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Can honor them grown saintlier with the years. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Nor can we praise alone | 6 | ····˘/ |
| In the majestic reticence of stone: | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘˘·· |
| Not even our lyric tears | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Can honor them, passed upward to their spheres. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Nay, we must meet our august hour of fate | 10 | ····//˘/·· |
| As they met theirs; and this will consecrate, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| This honor them, this stir their souls afar, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Where they are climbing to an ampler star. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The soaring pillar and the epic boast, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| The flaring pageant and the storied pile | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| May parley with Oblivion awhile, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘˘/ |
| To save some Sargon of the fading host; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But these are vain to hold | 6 | ······ |
| Against the slow creep of the patient mold, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The noiseless drill of the erasing rust: | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| The pomp, the arch, the scroll cannot beguile | 10 | ······˘/˘/ |
| The ever-circling Destinies that must | 10 | ·//˘˘/˘˘·· |
| Mix king and clown into one rabble dust. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| No name of mortal is secure in stone: | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Hewn on the Parthenon, the name will waste; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Carved on the Pyramid, ‘twill be effaced. | 10 | ···/˘˘··˘/ |
| In the heroic deed and there alone, | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| Is man’s one hold against the craft of Time, | 10 | ·········· |
| That humbles into dust the shaft sublime— | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| That mixes sculptured Karnak with the sands, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| unannealed, blown about the Libyan lands. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And for the high, heroic deeds of men, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| There is no crown of praise but deed again. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Only the heart-quick praise, the praise of deed, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Is faithful praise for the heroic breed. | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| How shall we honor them, our Deathless Dead? | 10 | ···/˘·//˘· |
| How keep their mighty memories alive? | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| In him who feels their passion, they survive! | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Flatter their souls with deed, and all is said! | 10 | /˘········ |
| In the heroic soul their souls create | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| Is raised remembrance past the reach of fate. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| The will to serve and bear, | 6 | ······ |
| The will to love and dare, | 6 | ······ |
| And take for God unprofitable risk— | 10 | ····˘/˘˘˘· |
| These things, these things will utter praise and pæan | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Louder than lyric thunders Æschylean; | 9 | /˘·/˘/˘·· |
| These things will build our dead unwasting obelisk. | 12 | ····/····/˘˘ |
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