The Errand Imperious
Proud England brooding on the days to come—Mother of peoples and of song undying—Hears in all lands the doubling of her drum,Sees on all winds of the world her lone flag flying.
And Russia, young, barbaric in her power,With untried tendons, cramped in all her length,Chafing in snowy lair, dreams of the hourWhen she shall loose on Earth her hairy strength.
And Germany, whose blonde intrepid mightOnce sent her Saxon fire on every land,Hears the great Labor Angel down the night,Crying, “Behold, my judgments are at hand!”
And elder kingdoms by the Midland Sea,Whose every crag has burned with battle fire,Feel the young pulses of the days to be,And hear far voices call them to aspire.
But harken, my America, my own,Great Mother, with the hill-flower in your hair!Diviner is that light you bear alone,That dream that keeps your face forever fair.
Imperious is your errand and sublime,And that which binds you is Orion’s band.For some large Purpose, since the youth of Time,You were kept hidden in the Lord’s right hand.
You were kept hidden in a secret place,With white Sierras, white Niagaras—Hid under stalwart stars in this far space,Ages ere Tadmor or the man of Uz.
‘Tis yours to bear the World-State in your dream,To strike down Mammon and his brazen breed,To build the Brother-Future, beam on beam;Yours, mighty one, to shape the Mighty Deed.
The armèd heavens lean down to hear your fame,America: rise to your high-born part!The thunders of the sea are in your name,The splendors and the terrors in your heart.
Words in this poem
- undying a.
- Not dying; imperishable; unending; immortal; as, the undying souls of men.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- barbaric a.
- Of, or from, barbarian nations; foreign; -- often with reference to barbarous nations of east. [L. barbaricus foreign, barbaric, Gr. .]
- snowy a.
- White like snow.
- lair n.
- A place in which to lie or rest; especially, the bed or couch of a wild beast. [OE. leir, AS. leger; akin to D. leger, G. lager couch, lair, OHG. laga, Goth. ligrs, and to E. lie. See Lie to be prostrate, and cf. Layer, Leaguer.]
- 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,]
- blonde a.
- Of a fair color; light-colored; as, blond hair; a blond complexion. [F., fair, light, of uncertain origin; cf. AS. blonden-feax gray-haired, old, prop. blended-haired, as a mixture of white and brown or black. See Blend, v. t.]
- midland a.
- Being in the interior country; distant from the coast or seashore; as, midland towns or inhabitants. Howell.
- crag n.
- The neck or throat [A form of craw: cf. D. kraag neck, collar, G. kragen. See Craw.]
- aspire v. t.
- To aspire to; to long for; to try to reach; to mount to.
- imperious a.
- Commanding; ascendant; imperial; lordly; majestic. [L. imperiosus: cf. F. impérieux. See Imperial.]
- stalwart a.
- Brave; bold; strong; redoubted; daring; vehement; violent. [OE. stalworth, AS. stælwyrth serviceable, probably originally, good at stealing, or worth stealing or taking, and afterwards extended to other causes of estimat]
- mammon n.
- Riches; wealth; the god of riches; riches, personified. [L. mammona, Gr. mam; cf. Heb. matm a hiding place, subterranean storehouse, treasury, fr. taman to hide.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Errand Imperious 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, The Errand Imperious, in Lincoln and Other Poems (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54527, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/markham-lincoln/the-errand-imperious.html, id L10802.
Form and metre
The Errand Imperious is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 8 of its 9 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 10.1 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 6% 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 ABAB comeA · undyingB · drumA · flyingB
- 2 ABAB powerA · lengthB · hourA · strengthB
- 3 ABAB mightA · landB · nightA · handB
- 4 ABAB seaA · fireB · beA · aspireB
- 5 ABAB ownA · hairB · aloneA · fairB
- 6 ABAB sublimeA · bandB · timeA · handB
- 7 A-A- placeA · niagaras · spaceA · uz
- 8 ABAB dreamA · breedB · beamA · deedB
- 9 ABAB fameA · partB · nameA · heartB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Proud England brooding on the days to come— | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Mother of peoples and of song undying— | 11 | /˘·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Hears in all lands the doubling of her drum, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Sees on all winds of the world her lone flag flying. | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| And Russia, young, barbaric in her power, | 11 | ·/˘·˘/˘··/˘ |
| With untried tendons, cramped in all her length, | 10 | ·˘//˘····· |
| Chafing in snowy lair, dreams of the hour | 11 | /˘·/˘····/˘ |
| When she shall loose on Earth her hairy strength. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And Germany, whose blonde intrepid might | 10 | ·/˘˘··˘/˘· |
| Once sent her Saxon fire on every land, | 10 | ···/˘/·/˘· |
| Hears the great Labor Angel down the night, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Crying, “Behold, my judgments are at hand!” | 10 | /˘˘/·/˘··· |
| And elder kingdoms by the Midland Sea, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/·· |
| Whose every crag has burned with battle fire, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/˘ |
| Feel the young pulses of the days to be, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And hear far voices call them to aspire. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| But harken, my America, my own, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘·· |
| Great Mother, with the hill-flower in your hair! | 10 | ·/˘···/··· |
| Diviner is that light you bear alone, | 10 | ˘/˘·····˘/ |
| That dream that keeps your face forever fair. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Imperious is your errand and sublime, | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| And that which binds you is Orion’s band. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| For some large Purpose, since the youth of Time, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| You were kept hidden in the Lord’s right hand. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| You were kept hidden in a secret place, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| With white Sierras, white Niagaras— | 9 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Hid under stalwart stars in this far space, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Ages ere Tadmor or the man of Uz. | 10 | /˘········ |
| ‘Tis yours to bear the World-State in your dream, | 10 | ·········· |
| To strike down Mammon and his brazen breed, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| To build the Brother-Future, beam on beam; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Yours, mighty one, to shape the Mighty Deed. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| The armèd heavens lean down to hear your fame, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| America: rise to your high-born part! | 10 | ˘/˘˘······ |
| The thunders of the sea are in your name, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The splendors and the terrors in your heart. | 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.