Laurel · Herman Melville · Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War

A Utilitarian View of the Monitors Fight

iambic tetrameter · 576 lines · from Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War

Plain be the phrase, yet apt the verse,More ponderous than nimble;For since grimed War here laid asideHis Orient pomp, ’twould ill befitOvermuch to plyThe Rhyme’s barbaric cymbal.

Hail to victory without the gaudOf glory; zeal that needs no fansOf banners; plain mechanic powerPlied cogently in War now placed--Where War belongs--Among the trades and artisans.

Yet this was battle, and intense--Beyond the strife of fleets heroic;Deadlier, closer, calm ’mid storm;No passion; all went on by crank,Pivot, and screw,And calculations of caloric.

Needless to dwell; the story’s known.the ringing of those plates on platesStill ringeth round the world--The clangor of that blacksmith’s fray.The anvil-dinResounds this message from the Fates:

War shall yet be, and to the end;But war-paint shows the streaks of weather;War yet shall be, but warriorsAre now but operatives; War’s madeLess grand than Peace,And a singe runs through lace and feather.

Shiloh.A Requiem.(April, 1862.)

Skimming lightly, wheeling still,The swallows fly lowOver the field in clouded days,The forest-field of Shiloh--Over the field where April rainSolaced the parched ones stretched in painThrough the pause of nightThat followed the Sunday fightAround the church of Shiloh--The church so lone, the log-built one,That echoed to many a parting groanAnd natural prayerOf dying foemen mingled there--Foemen at morn, but friends at eve--Fame or country least their care:(What like a bullet can undeceive!)But now they lie low,While over them the swallows skim,And all is hushed at Shiloh.

The Battle for the Mississipppi.(April, 1862.)

When Israel camped by Migdol hoar,Down at her feet her shawm she threw,But Moses sung and timbrels rungFor Pharaoh’s standed crew.So God appears in apt events--The Lord is a man of war!So the strong wind to the muse is givenIn victory’s roar.

Deep be the ode that hymns the fleet--The fight by night--the frayWhich bore our Flag against the powerful stream,And led it up to day.Dully through din of larger strifeShall bay that warring gun;But none the less to us who liveIt peals--an echoing one.

The shock of ships, the jar of walls,The rush through thick and thin--The flaring fire-rafts, glare and gloom--Eddies, and shells that spin--The boom-chain burst, the hulks dislodged,The jam of gun-boats driven,Or fired, or sunk--made up a warLike Michael’s waged with leven.

The manned Varuna stemmed and quelledThe odds which hard beset;The oaken flag-ship, half ablaze,Passed on and thundered yet;While foundering, gloomed in grimy flame,The Ram Manassas--hark the yell!--Plunged, and was gone; in joy or fright,The River gave a startled swell.

They fought through lurid dark till dawn;The war-smoke rolled awayWith clouds of night, and showed the fleetIn scarred yet firm array,Above the forts, above the driftOf wrecks which strife had made;And Farragut sailed up to the townAnd anchored--sheathed the blade.

The moody broadsides, brooding deep,Hold the lewd mob at bay,While o’er the armed decks’ solemn aislesThe meek church-pennons play;By shotted guns the sailors stand,With foreheads bound or bare;The captains and the conquering crewsHumble their pride in prayer.

They pray; and after victory, prayerIs meet for men who mourn their slain;The living shall unmoor and sail,But Death’s dark anchor secret deeps detain.Yet glory slants her shaft of raysFar through the undisturbed abyss;There must be other, nobler worlds for themWho nobly yield their lives in this.

Malvern Hill.(July, 1862.)

Ye elms that wave on Malvern HillIn prime of morn and May,Recall ye how McClellan’s menHere stood at bay?While deep within yon forest dimOur rigid comrades lay--Some with the cartridge in their mouth,Others with fixed arms lifted South--Invoking soThe cypress glades? Ah wilds of woe!

The spires of Richmond, late beheldThrough rifts in musket-haze,Were closed from view in clouds of dustOn leaf-walled ways,Where streamed our wagons in caravan;And the Seven Nights and DaysOf march and fast, retreat and fight,Pinched our grimed faces to ghastly plight--Does the elm woodRecall the haggard beards of blood?

The battle-smoked flag, with stars eclipsed,We followed (it never fell!)--In silence husbanded our strength--Received their yell;Till on this slope we patient turnedWith cannon ordered well;Reverse we proved was not defeat;But ah, the sod what thousands meet!--Does Malvern WoodBethink itself, and muse and brood?

We elms of Malvern HillRemember every thing;But sap the twig will fill:Wag the world how it will,Leaves must be green in Spring.

The Victor of Antietam.

When tempest winnowed grain from bran;And men were looking for a man,Authority called you to the van,McClellan:Along the line the plaudit ran,As later when Antietam’s cheers began.

Through storm-cloud and eclipse must moveEach Cause and Man, dear to the stars and Jove;Nor always can the wisest tellDeferred fulfillment from the hopeless knell--The struggler from the floundering ne’er-do-well.A pall-cloth on the Seven Days fell,Mcclellan--Unprosperously heroical!Who could Antietam’s wreath foretell?

Authority called you; then, in mistAnd loom of jeopardy--dismissed.But staring peril soon appalled;You, the Discarded, she recalled--Recalled you, nor endured delay;And forth you rode upon a blasted way,Arrayed Pope’s rout, and routed Lee’s array,McClellan:Your tent was choked with captured flags that day,McClellan.Antietam was a telling fray.

Recalled you; and she heard your drumAdvancing through the glastly gloom.You manned the wall, you propped the Dome,You stormed the powerful stormer home,McClellan:Antietam’s cannon long shall boom.

At Alexandria, left alone,McClellan--Your veterans sent from you, and thrownTo fields and fortunes all unknown--What thoughts were yours, revealed to none,While faithful still you labored on--Hearing the far Manassas gun!McClellan,Only Antietam could atone.

You fought in the front (an evil day,McClellan)--The fore-front of the first assay;The Cause went sounding, groped its way;The leadsmen quarrelled in the bay;Quills thwarted swords; divided sway;The rebel flushed in his lusty May:You did your best, as in you lay,McClellan.Antietam’s sun-burst sheds a ray.

Your medalled soldiers love you well,McClellan:Name your name, their true hearts swell;With you they shook dread Stonewall’s spell,With you they braved the blended yellOf rebel and maligner fell;With you in shame or fame they dwell,McClellan:Antietam-braves a brave can tell.

And when your comrades (now so few,McClellan--Such ravage in deep files they rue)Meet round the board, and sadly viewThe empty places; tribute dueThey render to the dead--and you!Absent and silent o’er the blue;The one-armed lift the wine to you,McClellan,And great Antietam’s cheers renew.

Battle of Stone River, Tennessee.A View from Oxford Cloisters.(January, 1863.)

With Tewksbury and Barnet heathIn days to come the field shall blend,The story dim and date obscure;In legend all shall end.Even now, involved in forest shadeA Druid-dream the strife appears,The fray of yesterday assumesThe haziness of years.In North and South still beats the veinOf Yorkist and Lancastrian.

Our rival Roses warred for Sway--For Sway, but named the name of Right;And Passion, scorning pain and death,Lent sacred fervor to the fight.Each lifted up a broidered cross,While crossing blades profaned the sign;Monks blessed the fraticidal lance,And sisters scarfs could twine.Do North and South the sin retainOf Yorkist and Lancastrian?

But Rosecrans in the cedarn glade,And, deep in denser cypress gloom,Dark Breckenridge, shall fade awayOr thinly loom.The pale throngs who in forest cowedBefore the spell of battle’s pause,Forefelt the stillness that shall dwellOn them and on their wars.North and South shall join the trainOf Yorkist and Lancastrian.

But where the sword has plunged so deep,And then been turned within the woundBy deadly Hate; where Climes contendOn vasty ground--No warning Alps or seas between,And small the curb of creed or law,And blood is quick, and quick the brain;Shall North and South their rage deplore,And reunited thrive amainLike Yorkist and Lancastrian?

Running the Batteries,As observed from the Anchorage above Vicksburgh.(April, 1863.)

A moonless night--a friendly one;A haze dimmed the shadowy shoreAs the first lampless boat slid silent on;Hist! and we spake no more;We but pointed, and stilly, to what we saw.

We felt the dew, and seemed to feelThe secret like a burden laid.The first boat melts; and a second keelIs blent with the foliaged shade--Their midnight rounds have the rebel officers made?

Unspied as yet. A third--a fourth--Gun-boat and transport in Indian fileUpon the war-path, smooth from the North;But the watch may they hope to beguile?The manned river-batteries stretch for mile on mile.

A flame leaps out; they are seen;Another and another gun roars;We tell the course of the boats through the screenBy each further fort that pours,And we guess how they jump from their beds on those shrouded shores.

Converging fires. We speak, though low:“That blastful furnace can they threadd”“Why, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-negoCame out all right, we read;The Lord, be sure, he helps his people, Ned.”

How we strain our gaze. On bluffs they shunA golden growing flame appears--Confirms to a silvery steadfast one:“The town is afire!” crows Hugh: “three cheers”Lot stops his mouth: “Nay, lad, better three tears.”

A purposed light; it shows our fleet;Yet a little late in its searching ray,So far and strong, that in phantom cheatLank on the deck our shadows lay;The shining flag-ship stings their guns to furious play.

How dread to mark her near the glareAnd glade of death the beacon throwsAthwart the racing waters there;One by one each plainer grows,Then speeds a blazoned target to our gladdened foes.

The impartial cresset lights as wellThe fixed forts to the boats that run;And, plunged from the ports, their answers swellBack to each fortress dun:Ponderous words speaks every monster gun.

Fearless they flash through gates of flame,The salamanders hard to hit,Though vivid shows each bulky frame;And never the batteries intermit,Nor the boats huge guns; they fire and flit.

Anon a lull. The beacon dies:“Are they out of that strait accurst”But other flames now dawning rise,Not mellowly brilliant like the first,But rolled in smoke, whose whitish volumes burst.

A baleful brand, a hurrying torchWhereby anew the boats are seen--A burning transport all alurch!Breathless we gaze; yet still we gleanGlimpses of beauty as we eager lean.

The effulgence takes an amber glowWhich bathes the hill-side villas far;Affrighted ladies mark the showPainting the pale magnolia--The fair, false, Circe light of cruel War.

The barge drifts doomed, a plague-struck one.Shoreward in yawls the sailors fly.But the gauntlet now is nearly run,The spleenful forts by fits reply,And the burning boat dies down in morning’s sky.

All out of range. Adieu, Messieurs!Jeers, as it speeds, our parting gun.So burst we through their barriersAnd menaces every one:So Porter proves himself a brave man’s son.

Stonewall Jackson.Mortally wounded at Chancellorsville.(May, 1863.)

The Man who fiercest charged in fight,Whose sword and prayer were long--Stonewall!Even him who stoutly stood for Wrong,How can we praise? Yet coming daysShall not forget him with this song.

Dead is the Man whose Cause is dead,Vainly he died and set his seal--Stonewall!Earnest in error, as we feel;True to the thing he deemed was due,True as John Brown or steel.

Relentlessly he routed us;But we relent, for he is low--Stonewall!Justly his fame we outlaw; soWe drop a tear on the bold Virginian’s bier,Because no wreath we owe.

Stonewall Jackson.(Ascribed to a Virginian.)

One man we claim of wrought renownWhich not the North shall care to slur;A Modern lived who sleeps in death,Calm as the marble Ancients are:’Tis he whose life, though a vapor’s wreath,Was charged with the lightning’s burning breath--Stonewall, stormer of the war.

But who shall hymn the roman heart?A stoic he, but even more:The iron will and lion thewWere strong to inflict as to endure:Who like him could stand, or pursue?His fate the fatalist followed through;In all his great soul found to doStonewall followed his star.

He followed his star on the Romney marchThrough the sleet to the wintry war;And he followed it on when he bowed the grain--The Wind of the Shenandoah;At Gaines’s Mill in the giant’s strain--On the fierce forced stride to Manassas-plain,Where his sword with thunder was clothed again,Stonewall followed his star.

His star he followed athwart the floodTo Potomac’s Northern shore,When midway wading, his host of braves“My Maryland!” loud did roar--To red Antietam’s field of graves,Through mountain-passes, woods and waves,They followed their pagod with hymns and glaives,For Stonewall followed a star.

Back it led him to Marye’s slope,Where the shock and the fame he bore;And to green Moss-Neck it guided him--Brief respite from throes of war:To the laurel glade by the Wilderness grim,Through climaxed victory naught shall dim,Even unto death it piloted him--Stonewall followed his star.

Its lead he followed in gentle waysWhich never the valiant mar;A cap we sent him, bestarred, to replaceThe sun-scorched helm of war:A fillet he made of the shining laceChildhood’s laughing brow to grace--Not his was a goldsmith’s star.

O, much of doubt in after daysShall cling, as now, to the war;Of the right and the wrong they’ll still debate,Puzzled by Stonewall’s star:“Fortune went with the North elate”“Ay, but the south had Stonewall’s weight,And he fell in the South’s vain war.”

Gettysburg.The Check.(July, 1863.)

O pride of the days in prime of the monthsNow trebled in great renown,When before the ark of our holy causeFell Dagon down--Dagon foredoomed, who, armed and targed,Never his impious heart enlargedBeyond that hour; god walled his power,And there the last invader charged.

He charged, and in that charge condensedHis all of hate and all of fire;He sought to blast us in his scorn,And wither us in his ire.Before him went the shriek of shells--Aerial screamings, taunts and yells;Then the three waves in flashed advanceSurged, but were met, and back they set:Pride was repelled by sterner pride,And Right is a strong-hold yet.

Before our lines it seemed a beachWhich wild September gales have strownWith havoc on wreck, and dashed therewithPale crews unknown--Men, arms, and steeds. The evening sunDied on the face of each lifeless one,And died along the winding marge of fightAnd searching-parties lone.

Sloped on the hill the mounds were green,Our center held that place of graves,And some still hold it in their swoon,And over these a glory waves.The warrior-monument, crashed in fight,Shall soar transfigured in loftier light,A meaning ampler bear;Soldier and priest with hymn and prayerHave laid the stone, and every boneShall rest in honor there.

The House-top.A Night Piece.(July, 1863.)

No sleep. The sultriness pervades the airAnd binds the brain--a dense oppression, suchAs tawny tigers feel in matted shades,Vexing their blood and making apt for ravage.Beneath the stars the roofy desert spreadsVacant as Libya. All is hushed near by.Yet fitfully from far breaks a mixed surfOf muffled sound, the Atheist roar of riot.Yonder, where parching Sirius set in drought,Balefully glares red Arson--there-and there.The Town is taken by its rats--ship-rats.And rats of the wharves. All civil charmsAnd priestly spells which late held hearts in awe--Fear-bound, subjected to a better swayThan sway of self; these like a dream dissolve,And man rebounds whole æons back in nature.Hail to the low dull rumble, dull and dead,And ponderous drag that shakes the wall.Wise Draco comes, deep in the midnight rollOf black artillery; he comes, though late;In code corroborating Calvin’s creedAnd cynic tyrannies of honest kings;He comes, nor parlies; and the Town redeemed,Give thanks devout; nor, being thankful, heedsThe grimy slur on the Republic’s faith implied,Which holds that Man is naturally good,And--more--is Nature’s Roman, never to be scourged.

Look-out Mountain.The Night Fight.(November, 1863.)

Who inhabiteth the MountainThat it shines in lurid light,And is rolled about with thunders,And terrors, and a blight,Like Kaf the peak of Eblis--Kaf, the evil height?Who has gone up with a shoutingAnd a trumpet in the night?

There is battle in the Mountain--Might assaulteth Might;’Tis the fastness of the Anarch,Torrent-torn, an ancient height;The crags resound the clangorOf the war of Wrong and Right;And the armies in the valleyWatch and pray for dawning light.

And the cloud is rolled from sight;There is triumph in the MorningFor the Anarch’s plunging flight;God has glorified the MountainWhere a Banner burneth bright,And the armies in the valleyThey are fortified in right.

Chattanooga.(November, 1863.)

A kindling impulse seized the hostInspired by heaven’s elastic air;Their hearts outran their General’s plan,Though Grant commanded there--Grant, who without reserve can dare;And, “Well, go on and do your will”He said, and measured the mountain then:So master-riders fling the rein--But you must know your men.

On yester-morn in grayish mist,Armies like ghosts on hills had fought,And rolled from the cloud their thunders loudThe Cumberlands far had caught:To-day the sunlit steeps are sought.Grant stood on cliffs whence all was plain,And smoked as one who feels no cares;But mastered nervousness intenseAlone such calmness wears.

The summit-cannon plunge their flameSheer down the primal wall,But up and up each linking troopIn stretching festoons crawl--Nor fire a shot. Such men appallThe foe, though brave. He, from the brink,Looks far along the breadth of slope,And sees two miles of dark dots creep,And knows they mean the cope.

He sees them creep. Yet here and thereHalf hid ’mid leafless groves they go;As men who ply through traceries highOf turreted marbles show--So dwindle these to eyes below.But fronting shot and flanking shellSliver and rive the inwoven ways;High tops of oaks and high hearts fall,But never the climbing stays.

From right to left, from left to rightThey roll the rallying cheer--Vie with each other, brother with brother,Who shall the first appear--What color-bearer with colors clearIn sharp relief, like sky-drawn Grant,Whose cigar must now be near the stump--While in solicitude his backHeap slowly to a hump.

Near and more near; till now the flagsRun like a catching flame;And one flares highest, to peril nighest--He means to make a name:Salvos! they give him his fame.The staff is caught, and next the rush,And then the leap where death has led;Flag answered flag along the crest,And swarms of rebels fled.

But some who gained the envied Alp,And--eager, ardent, earnest there--Dropped into Death’s wide-open arms,Quelled on the wing like eagles struck in air--Forever they slumber young and fair,The smile upon them as they died;Their end attained, that end a height:Life was to these a dream fulfilled,And death a starry night.

The Armies of the Wilderness.

Words in this poem 118

barbaric a.: Of, or from, barbarian nations; foreign; -- often with reference to barbarous nations of east. [L. barbaricus foreign, barbaric, Gr. .]
cymbal n.: A musical instrument used by the ancients. It is supposed to have been similar to the modern kettle drum, though perhaps smaller. [OE. cimbale, simbale, OF. cimbale, F. cymbale, L. cymbalum, fr. Gr. kubha pot. Cf. Chime.]
gaud n.: Trick; jest; sport. [OE. gaude jest, trick, gaudi bead of a rosary, fr. L. gaudium joy, gladness. See Joy.]
needs adv.: Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
cogently adv.: In a cogent manner; forcibly; convincigly; conclusively.
strife n.: The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
closer n.: One who, or that which, closes; specifically, a boot closer. See under Boot.
went n.: Course; way; path; journey; direction.
caloric n.: The principle of heat, or the agent to which the phenomena of heat and combustion were formerly ascribed; -- not now used in scientific nomenclature, but sometimes used as a general term for heat. [L. calor heat; cf. F. calorique.]
needless a.: Having no need.
dwell v. i.: To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
clangor n.: A sharp, harsh, ringing sound. [L., fr. clangere. See Clang, v. t.]
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,]
shiloh n.: A word used by Jacob on his deathbed, and interpreted variously, as [Heb. shiloh, literally, quiet, rest, fr. shalah to rest.]
requiem n.: A mass said or sung for the repose of a departed soul. [Acc. of L. requies rest, the first words of the Mass being "Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine," give eternal rest to them, O lord; pref. re- re + quies quiet. S]
skimming n.: The act of one who skims.
wheeling n.: The act of conveying anything, or traveling, on wheels, or in a wheeled vehicle.
lone n.: A lane. See Loanin.
morn n.: The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
undeceive v. t.: To cause to be no longer deceived; to free from deception, fraud, fallacy, or mistake. South. [1st pref. un- + deceive.]
hoar v. t.: To become moldy or musty. [AS. harian to grow gray.]
shawm n.: A wind instrument of music, formerly in use, supposed to have resembled either the clarinet or the hautboy in form. Otway. [OE. shalmie, OF. chalemie; cf. F. chalumeau shawm, chaume haulm, stalk; all fr. L. calamus a reed, reed pipe. See Haulm, and cf. Calumet.]
rung n.: A floor timber in a ship. [OE. ronge, AS. hrung, a staff, rod, pole; akin to G. runge a short, thick piece of iron or wood, OD. ronghe a prop, support, Icel. röng a rib in a ship, Goth. H]
dully adv.: In a dull manner; stupidly; slowly; sluggishly; without life or spirit.
glare v. i.: To shine with a bright, dazzling light. [OE. glaren, gloren; cf. AS. glær amber, LG. glaren to glow or burn like coals, D. gloren to glimmer; prob. akin to E. glass.]
odds n.: Difference in favor of one and against another; excess of one of two things or numbers over the other; inequality; advantage; superiority; hence, excess of chances; probability. [See Odd, a.]
oaken a.: Made or consisting of oaks or of the wood of oaks. [AS. acen.]
ablaze adv.: On fire; in a blaze, gleaming. Milman. [Pref. a- + blaze.]
grimy a.: Full of grime; begrimed; dirty; foul.
lurid a.: Pale yellow; ghastly pale; wan; gloomy; dismal. [L. luridus.]
anchored a.: Held by an anchor; at anchor; held safely; as, an anchored bark; also, shaped like an anchor; forked; as, an anchored tongue.
lewd a.: Not clerical; laic; laical; hence, unlearned; simple. [OE.lewed, lewd, lay, ignorant, vile, AS. l laical, belonging to the laity.]
shotted a.: Loaded with shot.
unmoor v. i.: To weigh anchor.
nobly adv.: Of noble extraction; as, nobly born or descended.
plight v. t.: To weave; to braid; to fold; to plait. [OE. pliten; probably through Old French, fr. LL. plectare, L. plectere. See Plait, Ply.]
haggard a.: Wild or intractable; disposed to break away from duty; untamed; as, a haggard or refractory hawk. Shak [F. hagard; of German origin, and prop. meaning, of the hegde or woods, wild, untamed. See Hedge, 1st Haw, and -ard.]
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.]
plaudit n.: A mark or expression of applause; praise bestowed. [From L. plaudite do ye praise (which was said by players at the end of a performance), 2d pers. pl. imperative of plaudere. Cf. Plausible.]
jove n.: The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]
struggler n.: One who struggles.
heroical a.: Heroic. Spectator.
rode n.: Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
blasted a.: Blighted; withered.
atone v. t.: To set at one; to reduce to concord; to reconcile, as parties at variance; to appease.
rebel a.: Pertaining to rebels or rebellion; acting in revolt; rebellious; as, rebel troops. [F. rebelle, fr. L. rebellis. See Rebel, v. t.]
shook v. t.: To pack, as staves, in a shook.
maligner n.: One who maligns.
sadly adv.: Wearily; heavily; firmly.
january n.: The first month of the year, containing thirty-one days. [L. Januarius, fr. Janus an old Latin deity, the god of the sun and the year, to whom the month of January was sacred; cf. janua a door, Skr. ya to go.]
haziness n.: The quality or state of being hazy.
fervor n.: Heat; excessive warmth. [OF. fervor, fervour, F. ferveur, L. fervor, fr. fervere. See Fervent.]
cedarn a.: Of or pertaining to the cedar or its wood.
glade n.: An open passage through a wood; a grassy open or cleared space in a forest. [Prob. of Scand. origin, and akin to glad, a.; cf. also W. golead, goleuad, a lighting, illumination, fr. goleu light, clear, bright, goleu fwlch glade, lit., a ]
stillness n.: The quality or state of being still; quietness; silence; calmness; inactivity.
deplore v. t.: To feel or to express deep and poignant grief for; to bewail; to lament; to mourn; to sorrow over. [L. deplorare; de- + plorare to cry out, wail, lament; prob. akin to pluere to rain, and to E. flow: cf. F. déplorer. Cf. Flow.]
amain adv.: With might; with full force; vigorously; violently; exceedingly. [Pref. a- + main. See 2d Main, n.]
moonless a.: Being without a moon or moonlight.
lampless a.: Being without a lamp, or without light; hence, being without appreciation; dull.
stilly a.: Still; quiet; calm.
blent p. p.: Blinded. Also (Chaucer), 3d sing. pres. Blindeth.
foliaged a.: Furnished with foliage; leaved; as, the variously foliaged mulberry.
cresset n.: An open frame or basket of iron, filled with combustible material, to be burned as a beacon; an open lamp or firrepan carried on a pole in nocturnal processions. [OF. crasset, cresset, sort of lamp or torch; perh. of Dutch or German origin, and akin to E. cruse, F. creuset crucible, E. crucible.]
intermit v. t.: To cause to cease for a time, or at intervals; to interrupt; to suspend. [L. intermittere; inter between + mittere, missum, to send: cf. OE. entremeten to busy (one's self) with, F. s'entremettre. See Missile.]
flit a.: Nimble; quick; swift. See Fleet.
anon adv.: Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
lull v. t.: To cause to rest by soothing influences; to compose; to calm; to soothe; to quiet. [Akin to OD. lullen to sing to sleep, G. lullen, Dan. lulle, Sw. lulla; all of imitative origin. Cf. Loll, Lollard.]
accurst p. p.: Doomed to destruction or misery; cursed; hence, bad enough to be under the curse; execrable; detestable; exceedingly hateful; -- as, an accursed deed.
mellowly adv.: In a mellow manner.
breathless a.: Spent with labor or violent action; out of breath.
glean n.: Cleaning; afterbirth. Holland.
effulgence n.: The state of being effulgent; extreme brilliancy; a flood of light; great luster or brightness; splendor.
shoreward adv.: Toward the shore.
gauntlet n.: A glove of such material that it defends the hand from wounds. [F. gantelet, dim. of gant glove, LL. wantus, of Teutonic origin; cf. D. want, Sw. & Dan. vante, Icel. vöttr, for vantr.]
spleenful a.: Displaying, or affected with, spleen; angry; fretful; melancholy.
messieurs n.: Sirs; gentlemen; -- abbreviated to Messrs., which is used as the plural of Mr. [F.; pl. of monsieur.]
mortally adv.: In a mortal manner; so as to cause death; as, mortally wounded.
stoutly adv.: In a stout manner; lustily; boldly; obstinately; as, he stoutly defended himself.
relent v. i.: To become less rigid or hard; to yield; to dissolve; to melt; to deliquesce. [F. ralentir, fr. L. pref. re- re- + ad to + lentus pliant, flexible, slow. See Lithe.]
bier n.: A handbarrow or portable frame on which a corpse is placed or borne to the grave. [OE. bæe, beere, AS. b, b; akin to D. baar, OHG. bara, G. bahre, Icel barar, Dbaare, L. feretrum, Gr. , from the same bear to produce. See 1st Bear, and cf. Barr]
slur v. t.: To soil; to sully; to contaminate; to disgrace. Cudworth. [Cf. OE. sloor mud, clay, Icel. sl, slo, to trail or drag one's self along, D. sleuren, sloren, to train, to drag, to do negligently and slovenly, D. sloor, sloe]
thew n.: Manner; custom; habit; form of behavior; qualities of mind; disposition; specifically, good qualities; virtues.
fatalist n.: One who maintains that all things happen by inevitable necessity. [Cf. F. fataliste.]
sleet n.: The part of a mortar extending from the chamber to the trunnions.
wintry a.: Suitable to winter; resembling winter, or what belongs to winter; brumal; hyemal; cold; stormy; wintery. [AS. wintrig.]
stride v. t.: To walk with long steps, especially in a measured or pompous manner. [AS. stridan to stride, to strive; akin to LG. striden, OFries. strida to strive, D. strijden to strive, to contend, G. streiten, OHG. stritan; of uncertain orig]
midway n.: The middle of the way or distance; a middle way or course.
valiant a.: Vigorous in body; strong; powerful; as, a valiant fencer. [OE. valiant, F. vaillant, OF. vaillant, valant, originally p. pr. of OF. & F. valoir to be worth, L. valere to be strong. See Wield, and cf. Avail, Convalesce, ]
elate a.: Lifted up; raised; elevated. [L. elatus elevated, fig., elated, proud (the figure, perh., being borrowed from a prancing horse); e out + latus (used as p. p. of ferre to bear), for tlatus, a]
dagon n.: A slip or piece. [See Dag a loose end.]
invader n.: One who invades; an assailant; an encroacher; an intruder.
sterner n.: A director. Dr. R. Clerke. [See 3d Stern.]
havoc n.: Wide and general destruction; devastation; waste. [W. hafog devastation, havoc; or, if this be itself fr. E. havoc, cf. OE. havot, or AS. hafoc hawk, which is a cruel or rapacious bird, or F. hai, voux! a cry to]
therewith adv.: With that or this.
marge n.: Border; margin; edge; verge. [F. marge. See Margin.]
sultriness n.: The quality or state of being sultry.
atheist n.: One who disbelieves or denies the existence of a God, or supreme intelligent Being. [Gr. athéiste.]
yonder adv.: At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
parching a.: Scorching; burning; drying.
sirius n.: The Dog Star. See Dog Star.
balefully adv.: In a baleful manner; perniciously.
draco n.: The Dragon, a northern constellation within which is the north pole of the ecliptic. [L. See Dragon.]
artillery n.: Munitions of war; implements for warfare, as slings, bows, and arrows. [OE. artilrie, OF. artillerie, arteillerie, fr. LL. artillaria, artilleria, machines and apparatus of all kinds used in war, vans laden with arms of any kind whi]
cynic a.: Having the qualities of a surly dog; snarling; captious; currish. [L. cynicus of the sect of Cynics, fr. Gr. Hound.]
thankful a.: Obtaining or deserving thanks; thankworthy. [AS. Þancfull.]
eblis n.: The prince of the evil spirits; Satan. [Written also Eblees.] [Ar. iblis.]
fastness n.: The state of being fast and firm; firmness; fixedness; security; faithfulness. [AS. fæstnes, fr. fæst fast. See Fast, a.]
anarch n.: The author of anarchy; one who excites revolt.
sunlit a.: Lighted by the sun.
nervousness n.: State or quality of being nervous.
primal a.: First; primary; original; chief. [LL. primalis, fr. L. primus the first. See Prime, a.]
crawl v. i.: To move slowly by drawing the body along the ground, as a worm; to move slowly on hands and kness; to creep. [Dan. kravle, or Icel. krafla, to paw, scrabble with the hands; akin to Sw. kr to crawl; cf. LG. krabbeln, D. krabbelen to scratch.]
appall v. t.: To make pale; to blanch. [OF. appalir to grow pale, make pale; a (L. ad) + pâlir to grow pale, to make pale, pâle pale. See Pale, a., and cf. Pall.]
brink n.: The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge, as of a river or pit; a verge; a border; as, the brink of a chasm. Also Fig. [Dan. brink edge, verge; akin to Sw. brink declivity, hill, Icel. brekka; cf. LG. brink a grassy hill, W. bryn hill, bryncyn hillock.]
turreted a.: Furnished with a turret or turrets; specifically (Zoöl.), having the whorls somewhat flattened on the upper side and often ornamented by spines or tubercles; -- said of certain spiral shells.
dwindle v. i.: To diminish; to become less; to shrink; to waste or consume away; to become degenerate; to fall away. [From OE. dwinen to languish, waste away, AS. dwinan; akin to LG. dwinen, D. dwijnen to vanish, Icel. dvina to cease, dwindle, Sw. tvina; of uncertain origin. Th]
sliver v. t.: To cut or divide into long, thin pieces, or into very small pieces; to cut or rend lengthwise; to slit; as, to sliver wood. [See Slive, v. t.]
starry a.: Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

A Utilitarian View of the Monitors Fight is in the public domain. This text is taken from Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War, Project Gutenberg ebook #12384; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Herman Melville, A Utilitarian View of the Monitors Fight, in Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War (1866), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12384, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/melville-battle-pieces/a-utilitarian-view-of-the-monitors-fight.html, id L00912.

Form and metre

A Utilitarian View of the Monitors Fight is 576 lines in 82 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 70 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 23% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

See other poems in iambic tetrameter.

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 -A---A verse · nimble^A · aside · befit · ply · cymbal^A
2 -A---A gaud · fans^A · power · placed · belongs · artisans^A
4 -A---A known · plates^A · world · fray · din · fates^A
5 -A---A end · weather^A · warriors · made · peace · feather^A
7 -A-BCCDDB--EEFEFA-B still · low^A · days · shiloh^B · rain^C · pain^C · night^D · fight^D · shiloh^B · one · groan · prayer^E · there^E · eve^F · care^E · undeceive^F · low^A · skim · shiloh^B
9 AB-B-A-A hoar^A · threw^B · rung · crew^B · events · war^A · given · roar^A
10 -A-A-B-B fleet · fray^A · stream · day^A · strife · gun^B · live · one^B
11 -A-A-A-A walls · thin^A · gloom · spin^A · dislodged · driven^A · war · leven^A
12 -A-A-B-B quelled · beset^A · ablaze · yet^A · flame · yell^B · fright · swell^B
13 -A-A-B-B dawn · away^A · fleet · array^A · drift · made^B · town · blade^B
14 -A-A-B-B deep · bay^A · aisles · play^A · stand · bare^B · crews · prayer^B
15 -A-A-B-B prayer · slain^A · sail · detain^A · rays · abyss^B · them · this^B
17 -A-A-ABBCC hill · may^A · men · bay^A · dim · lay^A · mouth^B · south^B · so^C · woe^C
18 -A-A-ABBCC beheld · haze^A · dust · ways^A · caravan · days^A · fight^B · plight^B · wood^C · blood^C
19 -A-A-ABB-- eclipsed · fell^A · strength · yell^A · turned · well^A · defeat^B · meet^B · wood · brood
20 ABAAB hill^A · thing^B · fill^A · will^A · spring^B
22 AAAAAA bran^A · man^A · van^A · mcclellan^A · ran^A · began^A
23 --AAAA--A move · jove · tell^A · knell^A · well^A · fell^A · mcclellan · heroical · foretell^A
24 AABBCCCDCDC mist^A · dismissed^A · appalled^B · recalled^B · delay^C · way^C · array^C · mcclellan^D · day^C · mcclellan^D · fray^C
25 ABAA-B drum^A · gloom^B · dome^A · home^A · mcclellan · boom^B
26 ABAACBCBA alone^A · mcclellan^B · thrown^A · unknown^A · none^C · on^B · gun^C · mcclellan^B · atone^A
27 AB-AAAAABA day^A · mcclellan^B · assay · way^A · bay^A · sway^A · may^A · lay^A · mcclellan^B · ray^A
28 ABAAAAABA well^A · mcclellan^B · swell^A · spell^A · yell^A · fell^A · dwell^A · mcclellan^B · tell^A
29 ABAAAAAABA few^A · mcclellan^B · rue^A · view^A · due^A · you^A · blue^A · you^A · mcclellan^B · renew^A
31 -A-A-B-BCC heath · blend^A · obscure · end^A · shade · appears^B · assumes · years^B · vein^C · lancastrian^C
32 -A-A-B-B-B sway · right^A · death · fight^A · cross · sign^B · lance · twine^B · retain · lancastrian^B
33 -A-A----BB glade · gloom^A · away · loom^A · cowed · pause · dwell · wars · train^B · lancastrian^B
34 -A-A--B-BB deep · wound^A · contend · ground^A · between · law · brain^B · deplore · amain^B · lancastrian^B
36 -A-A- one · shore^A · on · more^A · saw
37 ABABB feel^A · laid^B · keel^A · shade^B · made^B
38 ABABB fourth^A · file^B · north^A · beguile^B · mile^B
39 ABABB seen^A · roars^B · screen^A · pours^B · shores^B
40 ABABB low^A · threadd^B · nego^A · read^B · ned^B
41 ABABB shun^A · appears^B · one^A · cheers^B · tears^B
42 ABABB fleet^A · ray^B · cheat^A · lay^B · play^B
43 ABABB glare^A · throws^B · there^A · grows^B · foes^B
44 ABABB well^A · run^B · swell^A · dun^B · gun^B
45 ABA-B flame^A · hit^B · frame^A · intermit · flit^B
46 ABABB dies^A · accurst^B · rise^A · first^B · burst^B
47 ABABB torch^A · seen^B · alurch^A · glean^B · lean^B
48 A-A-- glow^A · far · show^A · magnolia · war
49 ABABB one^A · fly^B · run^A · reply^B · sky^B
50 ABABB messieurs^A · gun^B · barriers^A · one^B · son^B
52 -A-A-A fight · long^A · stonewall · wrong^A · days · song^A
53 -A-A-A dead · seal^A · stonewall · feel^A · due · steel^A
54 -A-A-A us · low^A · stonewall · so^A · bier · owe^A
56 -ABA-B- renown · slur^A · death^B · are^A · wreath · breath^B · war
57 --A-AAA- heart · more · thew^A · endure · pursue^A · through^A · do^A · star
58 --A-AAA- march · war · grain^A · shenandoah · strain^A · plain^A · again^A · star
59 -ABABB-- flood · shore^A · braves^B · roar^A · graves^B · waves^B · glaives · star
60 -ABABBB- slope · bore^A · him^B · war^A · grim^B · dim^B · him^B · star
61 -AB-BBA ways · mar^A · replace^B · war · lace^B · grace^B · star^A
62 -AB-BBA days · war^A · debate^B · star · elate^B · weight^B · war^A
64 -A-ABB-B months · renown^A · cause · down^A · targed^B · enlarged^B · power · charged^B
65 -A-ABB-C-C condensed · fire^A · scorn · ire^A · shells^B · yells^B · advance · set^C · pride · yet^C
66 -A-ABB-A beach · strown^A · therewith · unknown^A · sun^B · one^B · fight · lone^A
67 -A-ABBCC-C green · graves^A · swoon · waves^A · fight^B · light^B · bear^C · prayer^C · bone · there^C
69 A------BBA----------------- air^A · such · shades · ravage · spreads · by · surf · riot^B · drought^B · there^A · rats · charms · awe · sway · dissolve · nature · dead · wall · roll · late · creed · kings · redeemed · heeds · implied · good · scourged
71 -A-A-A-A mountain · light^A · thunders · blight^A · eblis · height^A · shouting · night^A
72 -A-A-A-A mountain · might^A · anarch · height^A · clangor · right^A · valley · light^A
73 A-A-A-A sight^A · morning · flight^A · mountain · bright^A · valley · right^A
75 -A-AA-B-B host · air^A · plan · there^A · dare^A · will · then^B · rein · men^B
76 -A-AA-B-B mist · fought^A · loud · caught^A · sought^A · plain · cares^B · intense · wears^B
77 -A-AA-B-B flame · wall^A · troop · crawl^A · appall^A · brink · slope^B · creep · cope^B
78 -A-AA-B-B there · go^A · high · show^A · below^A · shell · ways^B · fall · stays^B
79 -A-AA-B-B right · cheer^A · brother · appear^A · clear^A · grant · stump^B · back · hump^B
80 -A-AA-B-B flags · flame^A · nighest · name^A · fame^A · rush · led^B · crest · fled^B
81 -A-AA-B-B alp · there^A · arms · air^A · fair^A · died · height^B · fulfilled · night^B

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 tetrameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
Plain be the phrase, yet apt the verse,	8	········
More ponderous than nimble;	7	·/˘˘·/˘
For since grimed War here laid aside	8	······˘/
His Orient pomp, ’twould ill befit	9	·/˘····˘/
Overmuch to ply	5	/˘˘··
The Rhyme’s barbaric cymbal.	7	··˘/˘/˘
Hail to victory without the gaud	8	··/˘····
Of glory; zeal that needs no fans	8	·/˘·····
Of banners; plain mechanic power	9	·/˘·˘/˘/˘
Plied cogently in War now placed--	8	·/˘˘····
Where War belongs--	4	··˘/
Among the trades and artisans.	8	·····/˘˘
Yet this was battle, and intense--	8	···/˘·˘/
Beyond the strife of fleets heroic;	9	······˘/˘
Deadlier, closer, calm ’mid storm;	8	/˘˘/˘···
No passion; all went on by crank,	8	·/˘·····
Pivot, and screw,	4	/˘··
And calculations of caloric.	9	··˘/˘·˘/˘
Needless to dwell; the story’s known.	8	/˘···/˘·
the ringing of those plates on plates	8	·/˘·····
Still ringeth round the world--	6	·/˘···
The clangor of that blacksmith’s fray.	8	·/˘··/··
The anvil-din	4	·/˘·
Resounds this message from the Fates:	8	·/·/˘···
War shall yet be, and to the end;	8	········
But war-paint shows the streaks of weather;	9	·······/˘
War yet shall be, but warriors	8	·····/˘˘
Are now but operatives; War’s made	8	···/˘˘··
Less grand than Peace,	4	····
And a singe runs through lace and feather.	9	·······/˘
Shiloh.	2	/˘
A Requiem.	4	·/˘˘
(April, 1862.)	2	/˘
Skimming lightly, wheeling still,	7	/˘/˘/˘·
The swallows fly low	5	·/˘··
Over the field in clouded days,	8	·····/˘·
The forest-field of Shiloh--	7	·/˘··/˘
Over the field where April rain	8	·····/˘·
Solaced the parched ones stretched in pain	8	/˘······
Through the pause of night	5	·····
That followed the Sunday fight	8	·/˘˘·/··
Around the church of Shiloh--	7	·····/˘
The church so lone, the log-built one,	8	········
That echoed to many a parting groan	9	·/˘·/·/˘·
And natural prayer	5	·/˘˘·
Of dying foemen mingled there--	8	·/˘··/˘·
Foemen at morn, but friends at eve--	8	········
Fame or country least their care:	7	··/˘···
(What like a bullet can undeceive!)	9	···/˘····
But now they lie low,	5	·····
While over them the swallows skim,	8	·····/˘·
And all is hushed at Shiloh.	8	····˘·/˘
The Battle for the Mississipppi.	9	·/˘······
(April, 1862.)	2	/˘
When Israel camped by Migdol hoar,	8	·/˘·····
Down at her feet her shawm she threw,	8	········
But Moses sung and timbrels rung	8	·/˘·····
For Pharaoh’s standed crew.	6	·/˘/˘·
So God appears in apt events--	8	··˘/··˘/
The Lord is a man of war!	7	·······
So the strong wind to the muse is given	9	········/
In victory’s roar.	5	·/˘˘·
Deep be the ode that hymns the fleet--	8	········
The fight by night--the fray	6	······
Which bore our Flag against the powerful stream,	10	··/····/˘·
And led it up to day.	6	······
Dully through din of larger strife	8	/˘···/˘·
Shall bay that warring gun;	6	···/˘·
But none the less to us who live	8	········
It peals--an echoing one.	7	···/˘˘·
The shock of ships, the jar of walls,	8	········
The rush through thick and thin--	6	······
The flaring fire-rafts, glare and gloom--	8	·/˘/····
Eddies, and shells that spin--	6	/˘····
The boom-chain burst, the hulks dislodged,	8	······˘/
The jam of gun-boats driven,	7	·····/˘
Or fired, or sunk--made up a war	8	·/······
Like Michael’s waged with leven.	8	·/˘·˘·/˘
The manned Varuna stemmed and quelled	8	··˘/˘···
The odds which hard beset;	6	····˘/
The oaken flag-ship, half ablaze,	8	·/˘···˘/
Passed on and thundered yet;	8	·˘··/˘˘·
While foundering, gloomed in grimy flame,	8	·/˘··/˘·
The Ram Manassas--hark the yell!--	8	··˘/˘···
Plunged, and was gone; in joy or fright,	8	········
The River gave a startled swell.	8	·/˘··/˘·
They fought through lurid dark till dawn;	8	···/˘···
The war-smoke rolled away	7	····˘˘/
With clouds of night, and showed the fleet	8	········
In scarred yet firm array,	7	··˘··˘/
Above the forts, above the drift	8	········
Of wrecks which strife had made;	6	······
And Farragut sailed up to the town	8	·/˘·····
And anchored--sheathed the blade.	8	·/˘˘·˘··
The moody broadsides, brooding deep,	8	·/˘/·/˘·
Hold the lewd mob at bay,	6	······
While o’er the armed decks’ solemn aisles	8	·····/˘·
The meek church-pennons play;	6	······
By shotted guns the sailors stand,	8	·/˘··/˘·
With foreheads bound or bare;	6	·/····
The captains and the conquering crews	8	·/˘··/˘·
Humble their pride in prayer.	6	/˘····
They pray; and after victory, prayer	8	·····/˘·
Is meet for men who mourn their slain;	8	········
The living shall unmoor and sail,	8	·/˘·˘/··
But Death’s dark anchor secret deeps detain.	10	···/˘/˘·˘/
Yet glory slants her shaft of rays	8	·/˘·····
Far through the undisturbed abyss;	8	····˘/˘/
There must be other, nobler worlds for them	10	···/˘/˘···
Who nobly yield their lives in this.	8	·/˘·····
Malvern Hill.	3	/˘·
(July, 1862.)	2	·/
Ye elms that wave on Malvern Hill	8	·····/˘·
In prime of morn and May,	6	······
Recall ye how McClellan’s men	8	˘/··˘/˘·
Here stood at bay?	4	····
While deep within yon forest dim	8	·····/˘·
Our rigid comrades lay--	7	/˘/˘/··
Some with the cartridge in their mouth,	8	···/˘···
Others with fixed arms lifted South--	8	/˘···/˘·
Invoking so	4	˘/˘·
The cypress glades? Ah wilds of woe!	8	·/˘·····
The spires of Richmond, late beheld	8	···/˘·˘/
Through rifts in musket-haze,	6	···/˘·
Were closed from view in clouds of dust	8	········
On leaf-walled ways,	4	····
Where streamed our wagons in caravan;	9	··//˘·/˘·
And the Seven Nights and Days	7	··/˘···
Of march and fast, retreat and fight,	8	····˘/··
Pinched our grimed faces to ghastly plight--	9	·/·/˘·/˘·
Does the elm wood	4	····
Recall the haggard beards of blood?	8	˘/·/˘···
The battle-smoked flag, with stars eclipsed,	9	·/˘····˘/
We followed (it never fell!)--	8	·/˘˘·/˘·
In silence husbanded our strength--	8	·/˘/˘˘/·
Received their yell;	4	˘/··
Till on this slope we patient turned	8	·····/˘·
With cannon ordered well;	7	·/˘/˘˘·
Reverse we proved was not defeat;	8	˘/····˘/
But ah, the sod what thousands meet!--	8	·····/˘·
Does Malvern Wood	4	·/˘·
Bethink itself, and muse and brood?	8	˘/˘/····
We elms of Malvern Hill	6	···/˘·
Remember every thing;	7	˘/˘/˘˘·
But sap the twig will fill:	6	······
Wag the world how it will,	6	······
Leaves must be green in Spring.	6	······
The Victor of Antietam.	7	·/˘····
When tempest winnowed grain from bran;	8	·/˘/····
And men were looking for a man,	8	···/˘···
Authority called you to the van,	8	˘/˘·····
McClellan:	3	˘/˘
Along the line the plaudit ran,	8	˘/···/˘·
As later when Antietam’s cheers began.	10	·/˘·····˘/
Through storm-cloud and eclipse must move	8	····˘/··
Each Cause and Man, dear to the stars and Jove;	10	··········
Nor always can the wisest tell	8	·/···/˘·
Deferred fulfillment from the hopeless knell--	10	˘/˘/˘··/˘·
The struggler from the floundering ne’er-do-well.	10	·/˘··/˘···
A pall-cloth on the Seven Days fell,	8	·····/··
Mcclellan--	3	˘/˘
Unprosperously heroical!	9	·····˘/˘˘
Who could Antietam’s wreath foretell?	8	······˘/
Authority called you; then, in mist	8	˘/˘·····
And loom of jeopardy--dismissed.	8	···/˘˘˘/
But staring peril soon appalled;	8	·/˘/˘·˘/
You, the Discarded, she recalled--	8	··˘/˘·˘/
Recalled you, nor endured delay;	8	˘/··˘/˘/
And forth you rode upon a blasted way,	10	·······/˘·
Arrayed Pope’s rout, and routed Lee’s array,	10	˘/···/˘·˘/
McClellan:	3	˘/˘
Your tent was choked with captured flags that day,	10	·····/˘···
McClellan.	3	˘/˘
Antietam was a telling fray.	8	·····/˘·
Recalled you; and she heard your drum	8	˘/······
Advancing through the glastly gloom.	8	˘/˘·····
You manned the wall, you propped the Dome,	8	········
You stormed the powerful stormer home,	8	···/˘/˘·
McClellan:	3	˘/˘
Antietam’s cannon long shall boom.	8	···/˘···
At Alexandria, left alone,	8	··˘/˘·˘/
McClellan--	3	˘/˘
Your veterans sent from you, and thrown	8	·/˘·····
To fields and fortunes all unknown--	8	···/˘·˘/
What thoughts were yours, revealed to none,	8	····˘/··
While faithful still you labored on--	8	·/˘··/˘·
Hearing the far Manassas gun!	8	/˘··˘/˘·
McClellan,	3	˘/˘
Only Antietam could atone.	8	/˘····˘/
You fought in the front (an evil day,	8	······/·
McClellan)--	3	˘/˘
The fore-front of the first assay;	8	······/˘
The Cause went sounding, groped its way;	8	···/˘···
The leadsmen quarrelled in the bay;	8	···/˘···
Quills thwarted swords; divided sway;	8	·/˘·˘/˘·
The rebel flushed in his lusty May:	9	·˘/···/˘·
You did your best, as in you lay,	8	········
McClellan.	3	˘/˘
Antietam’s sun-burst sheds a ray.	8	········
Your medalled soldiers love you well,	8	·/˘/˘···
McClellan:	3	˘/˘
Name your name, their true hearts swell;	7	·······
With you they shook dread Stonewall’s spell,	8	·····/··
With you they braved the blended yell	8	·····/˘·
Of rebel and maligner fell;	8	·/˘·˘/˘·
With you in shame or fame they dwell,	8	········
McClellan:	3	˘/˘
Antietam-braves a brave can tell.	8	········
And when your comrades (now so few,	8	···/····
McClellan--	3	˘/˘
Such ravage in deep files they rue)	8	·/˘·····
Meet round the board, and sadly view	8	·····/˘·
The empty places; tribute due	8	·/˘/˘/˘·
They render to the dead--and you!	8	·/˘·····
Absent and silent o’er the blue;	8	/˘·/˘···
The one-armed lift the wine to you,	8	········
McClellan,	3	˘/˘
And great Antietam’s cheers renew.	8	······˘/
Battle of Stone River, Tennessee.	9	/˘··/˘·˘/
A View from Oxford Cloisters.	7	···/˘/˘
(January, 1863.)	4	/˘·˘
With Tewksbury and Barnet heath	8	·/˘˘·/˘·
In days to come the field shall blend,	8	········
The story dim and date obscure;	8	·/˘···˘/
In legend all shall end.	6	·/˘···
Even now, involved in forest shade	8	/·˘/·/˘·
A Druid-dream the strife appears,	8	·/˘···˘/
The fray of yesterday assumes	8	···/˘·˘/
The haziness of years.	6	·/˘˘··
In North and South still beats the vein	8	········
Of Yorkist and Lancastrian.	8	·····/˘˘
Our rival Roses warred for Sway--	8	//˘/˘···
For Sway, but named the name of Right;	8	········
And Passion, scorning pain and death,	8	·/˘/˘···
Lent sacred fervor to the fight.	8	·/˘/˘···
Each lifted up a broidered cross,	8	·/˘·····
While crossing blades profaned the sign;	8	·/˘·˘/··
Monks blessed the fraticidal lance,	8	········
And sisters scarfs could twine.	6	·/˘···
Do North and South the sin retain	8	······˘/
Of Yorkist and Lancastrian?	8	·····/˘˘
But Rosecrans in the cedarn glade,	8	·/···/˘·
And, deep in denser cypress gloom,	8	···/˘/˘·
Dark Breckenridge, shall fade away	8	·/˘···˘/
Or thinly loom.	4	·/˘·
The pale throngs who in forest cowed	8	·····/˘·
Before the spell of battle’s pause,	8	·····/˘·
Forefelt the stillness that shall dwell	9	····/˘···
On them and on their wars.	6	······
North and South shall join the train	7	·······
Of Yorkist and Lancastrian.	8	·····/˘˘
But where the sword has plunged so deep,	8	········
And then been turned within the wound	8	········
By deadly Hate; where Climes contend	8	·/˘···˘/
On vasty ground--	4	·/˘·
No warning Alps or seas between,	8	·/˘·····
And small the curb of creed or law,	8	········
And blood is quick, and quick the brain;	8	········
Shall North and South their rage deplore,	8	······˘/
And reunited thrive amain	8	··˘/˘·˘/
Like Yorkist and Lancastrian?	8	·····/˘˘
Running the Batteries,	6	/˘·/˘˘
As observed from the Anchorage above Vicksburgh.	11	·˘/··/˘····
(April, 1863.)	2	/˘
A moonless night--a friendly one;	8	·/˘··/˘·
A haze dimmed the shadowy shore	8	····/˘˘·
As the first lampless boat slid silent on;	10	···/˘··/˘·
Hist! and we spake no more;	6	······
We but pointed, and stilly, to what we saw.	11	··/˘·/˘····
We felt the dew, and seemed to feel	8	········
The secret like a burden laid.	8	·/˘··/˘·
The first boat melts; and a second keel	9	······/˘·
Is blent with the foliaged shade--	8	····/˘˘·
Their midnight rounds have the rebel officers made?	11	·/····/˘/˘·
Unspied as yet. A third--a fourth--	7	·······
Gun-boat and transport in Indian file	9	···˘/·/˘·
Upon the war-path, smooth from the North;	9	·········
But the watch may they hope to beguile?	9	·······˘/
The manned river-batteries stretch for mile on mile.	11	··/˘/˘·····
A flame leaps out; they are seen;	7	·······
Another and another gun roars;	9	˘/˘·˘/˘··
We tell the course of the boats through the screen	10	··········
By each further fort that pours,	7	··/˘···
And we guess how they jump from their beds on those shrouded shores.	14	···········/˘·
Converging fires. We speak, though low:	8	˘/˘/····
“That blastful furnace can they threadd”	8	···/˘···
“Why, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego	10	·/˘···˘/··
Came out all right, we read;	6	······
The Lord, be sure, he helps his people, Ned.”	10	·······/˘·
How we strain our gaze. On bluffs they shun	9	···/·····
A golden growing flame appears--	8	·/˘/˘·˘/
Confirms to a silvery steadfast one:	9	˘/··/˘/··
“The town is afire!” crows Hugh: “three cheers”	9	···˘/····
Lot stops his mouth: “Nay, lad, better three tears.”	10	······/˘··
A purposed light; it shows our fleet;	8	·/˘···/·
Yet a little late in its searching ray,	10	··/˘···/˘·
So far and strong, that in phantom cheat	9	······/˘·
Lank on the deck our shadows lay;	8	····//··
The shining flag-ship stings their guns to furious play.	12	·/˘······/˘·
How dread to mark her near the glare	8	········
And glade of death the beacon throws	8	·····/˘·
Athwart the racing waters there;	8	˘/·/˘/˘·
One by one each plainer grows,	7	····/˘·
Then speeds a blazoned target to our gladdened foes.	12	·····/˘·//˘·
The impartial cresset lights as well	9	·˘/˘/˘···
The fixed forts to the boats that run;	8	········
And, plunged from the ports, their answers swell	9	······/˘·
Back to each fortress dun:	6	···/˘·
Ponderous words speaks every monster gun.	9	/˘··/˘/˘·
Fearless they flash through gates of flame,	8	/˘······
The salamanders hard to hit,	8	··˘/˘···
Though vivid shows each bulky frame;	8	·/˘··/˘·
And never the batteries intermit,	8	·/·/˘···
Nor the boats huge guns; they fire and flit.	9	······/··
Anon a lull. The beacon dies:	8	˘/···/˘·
“Are they out of that strait accurst”	8	········
But other flames now dawning rise,	8	·/˘··/˘·
Not mellowly brilliant like the first,	9	·/˘˘/˘···
But rolled in smoke, whose whitish volumes burst.	10	·····/˘/˘·
A baleful brand, a hurrying torch	8	·/˘··/˘·
Whereby anew the boats are seen--	8	··˘/····
A burning transport all alurch!	8	·/˘/˘···
Breathless we gaze; yet still we glean	8	/˘······
Glimpses of beauty as we eager lean.	10	/˘·/˘··/˘·
The effulgence takes an amber glow	9	·˘/˘··/˘·
Which bathes the hill-side villas far;	8	·····/˘·
Affrighted ladies mark the show	8	···/˘···
Painting the pale magnolia--	7	/˘··˘/˘
The fair, false, Circe light of cruel War.	8	······/·
The barge drifts doomed, a plague-struck one.	8	········
Shoreward in yawls the sailors fly.	8	/˘···/˘·
But the gauntlet now is nearly run,	9	··/˘··/˘·
The spleenful forts by fits reply,	8	·/˘···˘/
And the burning boat dies down in morning’s sky.	11	··/˘····/˘·
All out of range. Adieu, Messieurs!	8	····˘/˘/
Jeers, as it speeds, our parting gun.	8	····//˘·
So burst we through their barriers	8	·····/˘˘
And menaces every one:	8	·/˘˘/˘˘·
So Porter proves himself a brave man’s son.	10	·/˘·˘/····
Stonewall Jackson.	4	/·/˘
Mortally wounded at Chancellorsville.	10	/˘/˘······
(May, 1863.)	1	·
The Man who fiercest charged in fight,	8	···/˘···
Whose sword and prayer were long--	6	······
Stonewall!	2	/·
Even him who stoutly stood for Wrong,	8	/··/˘···
How can we praise? Yet coming days	8	·····/˘·
Shall not forget him with this song.	8	··˘/····
Dead is the Man whose Cause is dead,	8	········
Vainly he died and set his seal--	8	/˘······
Stonewall!	2	/·
Earnest in error, as we feel;	8	/˘·/˘···
True to the thing he deemed was due,	8	········
True as John Brown or steel.	6	······
Relentlessly he routed us;	8	˘/˘˘·/˘·
But we relent, for he is low--	8	··˘/····
Stonewall!	2	/·
Justly his fame we outlaw; so	8	/˘···/··
We drop a tear on the bold Virginian’s bier,	11	·······˘/˘·
Because no wreath we owe.	6	······
Stonewall Jackson.	4	/·/˘
(Ascribed to a Virginian.)	8	˘/˘··˘/˘
One man we claim of wrought renown	8	······˘/
Which not the North shall care to slur;	8	········
A Modern lived who sleeps in death,	8	·/˘·····
Calm as the marble Ancients are:	8	···/˘/˘·
’Tis he whose life, though a vapor’s wreath,	9	······/˘·
Was charged with the lightning’s burning breath--	9	····/˘/˘·
Stonewall, stormer of the war.	7	/·/˘···
But who shall hymn the roman heart?	8	·····/˘·
A stoic he, but even more:	8	·/˘··/˘·
The iron will and lion thew	8	·/˘··/˘·
Were strong to inflict as to endure:	9	···˘/··˘/
Who like him could stand, or pursue?	8	······˘/
His fate the fatalist followed through;	8	···/˘/˘·
In all his great soul found to do	8	········
Stonewall followed his star.	7	/·/˘˘··
He followed his star on the Romney march	10	·/˘····/˘·
Through the sleet to the wintry war;	8	·····/˘·
And he followed it on when he bowed the grain--	11	··/˘·······
The Wind of the Shenandoah;	8	·····˘/˘
At Gaines’s Mill in the giant’s strain--	9	·/˘···/˘·
On the fierce forced stride to Manassas-plain,	10	······˘/˘·
Where his sword with thunder was clothed again,	10	····/˘··˘/
Stonewall followed his star.	7	/·/˘˘··
His star he followed athwart the flood	9	···/˘˘/··
To Potomac’s Northern shore,	7	·˘/˘/˘·
When midway wading, his host of braves	9	·/·/˘····
“My Maryland!” loud did roar--	7	·/˘˘···
To red Antietam’s field of graves,	8	········
Through mountain-passes, woods and waves,	8	·/˘/˘···
They followed their pagod with hymns and glaives,	10	·/˘·/˘····
For Stonewall followed a star.	8	·/·/˘˘··
Back it led him to Marye’s slope,	7	·······
Where the shock and the fame he bore;	8	········
And to green Moss-Neck it guided him--	9	······/˘·
Brief respite from throes of war:	7	·/˘····
To the laurel glade by the Wilderness grim,	10	··/˘···/˘·
Through climaxed victory naught shall dim,	8	·/·/˘···
Even unto death it piloted him--	8	/····/˘·

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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.

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