Godwin James
Harry Wilmans! You who fell in a swampNear Manila, following the flagYou were not wounded by the greatness of a dream,Or destroyed by ineffectual work,Or driven to madness by Satanic snags;You were not torn by aching nerves,Nor did you carry great wounds to your old age.You did not starve, for the government fed you.You did not suffer yet cry “forward”To an army which you ledAgainst a foe with mocking smiles,Sharper than bayonets.You were not smitten downBy invisible bombs.You were not rejectedBy those for whom you were defeated.You did not eat the savorless breadWhich a poor alchemy had made from ideals.You went to Manila, Harry Wilmans,While I enlisted in the bedraggled armyOf bright-eyed, divine youths,Who surged forward, who were driven back and fellSick, broken, crying, shorn of faith,Following the flag of the Kingdom of Heaven.You and I, Harry Wilmans, have fallenIn our several ways, not knowingGood from bad, defeat from victory,Nor what face it is that smilesBehind the demoniac mask.
Words in this poem
- harry v. i.
- To make a predatory incursion; to plunder or lay waste.
- satanic a.
- Of or pertaining to Satan; having the qualities of Satan; resembling Satan; extremely malicious or wicked; devilish; infernal.
- aching a.
- That aches; continuously painful. See Ache.
- savorless a.
- Having no savor; destitute of smell or of taste; insipid.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- defeat v. t.
- To undo; to disfigure; to destroy. [From F. défait, OF. desfait, p. p. ofe défaire, OF. desfaire, to undo; L. dis- + facere to do. See Feat, Fact, and cf. Disfashion.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Godwin James is in the public domain. This text is taken from Spoon River Anthology, Project Gutenberg ebook #1280; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edgar Lee Masters, Godwin James, in Spoon River Anthology (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1280, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/masters-spoon-river/godwin-james.html, id L07920.
Form and metre
Godwin James is 29 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%). 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.0 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% 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 --------AAB---AAA----------B- swamp · flag · dream · work · snags · nerves · age · you · forwardA · ledA · smilesB · bayonets · down · bombs · rejectedA · defeatedA · breadA · ideals · wilmans · army · youths · fell · faith · heaven · fallen · knowing · victory · smilesB · mask
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Harry Wilmans! You who fell in a swamp | 10 | /˘········ |
| Near Manila, following the flag | 9 | ·˘/˘/˘˘·· |
| You were not wounded by the greatness of a dream, | 12 | ···/˘··/˘··· |
| Or destroyed by ineffectual work, | 10 | ·˘/··˘/˘˘· |
| Or driven to madness by Satanic snags; | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·˘/˘· |
| You were not torn by aching nerves, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Nor did you carry great wounds to your old age. | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| You did not starve, for the government fed you. | 11 | ······/˘˘·· |
| You did not suffer yet cry “forward” | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| To an army which you led | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Against a foe with mocking smiles, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Sharper than bayonets. | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| You were not smitten down | 6 | ···/˘· |
| By invisible bombs. | 6 | ·˘/˘˘· |
| You were not rejected | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| By those for whom you were defeated. | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| You did not eat the savorless bread | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Which a poor alchemy had made from ideals. | 11 | ···/˘˘···˘/ |
| You went to Manila, Harry Wilmans, | 10 | ···˘/˘/˘·· |
| While I enlisted in the bedraggled army | 12 | ··˘/˘··˘/˘/˘ |
| Of bright-eyed, divine youths, | 6 | ···˘/· |
| Who surged forward, who were driven back and fell | 11 | ··/˘··/˘··· |
| Sick, broken, crying, shorn of faith, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Following the flag of the Kingdom of Heaven. | 12 | /˘˘····/˘·/˘ |
| You and I, Harry Wilmans, have fallen | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| In our several ways, not knowing | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Good from bad, defeat from victory, | 9 | ···˘/·/˘˘ |
| Nor what face it is that smiles | 7 | ······· |
| Behind the demoniac mask. | 8 | ···˘/˘˘· |
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.