Sheridan at Cedar Creek
Shoe the steed with silverThat bore him to the fray,When he heard the guns at dawning--Miles away;When he heard them calling, calling--Mount! nor stay:Quick, or all is lost;They’ve surprised and stormed the post,They push your routed host--Gallop! retrieve the day.
House the horse in ermine--For the foam-flake blewWhite through the red October;He thundered into view;They cheered him in the looming,Horseman and horse they knew.The turn of the tide began,The rally of bugles ran,He swung his hat in the van;The electric hoof-spark flew.
Wreathe the steed and lead him--For the charge he ledTouched and turned the cypressInto amaranths for the headOf Philip, king of riders,Who raised them from the dead.The camp (at dawning lost),By eve, recovered--forced,Rang with laughter of the hostAt belated Early fled.
Shroud the horse in sable--For the mounds they heap!There is firing in the Valley,And yet no strife they keep;It is the parting volley,It is the pathos deep.There is glory for the braveWho lead, and noblys ave,But no knowledge in the graveWhere the nameless followers sleep.
Words in this poem
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- retrieve n.
- A seeking again; a discovery. B. Jonson.
- looming n.
- The indistinct and magnified appearance of objects seen in particular states of the atmosphere. See Mirage.
- rally v. t.
- To collect, and reduce to order, as troops dispersed or thrown into confusion; to gather again; to reunite. [OF. ralier, F. rallier, fr. L. pref. re- + ad + ligare to bind. See Ra-, and 1st Ally.]
- belated a.
- Delayed beyond the usual time; too late; overtaken by night; benighted.
- sable n.
- A carnivorous animal of the Weasel family (Mustela zibellina) native of the northern latitudes of Europe, Asia, and America, -- noted for its fine, soft, and valuable fur. [OF. sable, F. zibeline sable (in sense 4), LL. sabellum; cf. D. sabel, Dan. sabel, zobel, Sw. sabel, sobel, G. zobel; all fr. Russ. sóbole.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- nameless a.
- Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sheridan at Cedar Creek 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, Sheridan at Cedar Creek, in Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War (1866), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12384, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/melville-battle-pieces/sheridan-at-cedar-creek.html, id L19108.
Form and metre
Sheridan at Cedar Creek is 40 lines in 4 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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-A-BBA silver · frayA · dawning · awayA · calling · stayA · lost · postB · hostB · dayA
- 2 -A-A-ABBBA ermine · blewA · october · viewA · looming · knewA · beganB · ranB · vanB · flewA
- 3 -A-A-A---A him · ledA · cypress · headA · riders · deadA · lost · forced · host · fledA
- 4 -A-A-AB-BA sable · heapA · valley · keepA · volley · deepA · braveB · ave · graveB · sleepA
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Shoe the steed with silver | 6 | ····/˘ |
| That bore him to the fray, | 6 | ······ |
| When he heard the guns at dawning-- | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Miles away; | 3 | ·˘/ |
| When he heard them calling, calling-- | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Mount! nor stay: | 3 | ··· |
| Quick, or all is lost; | 5 | ····· |
| They’ve surprised and stormed the post, | 8 | ·˘/˘···· |
| They push your routed host-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Gallop! retrieve the day. | 6 | /˘˘/·· |
| House the horse in ermine-- | 6 | ····/˘ |
| For the foam-flake blew | 5 | ····· |
| White through the red October; | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| He thundered into view; | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| They cheered him in the looming, | 8 | ··˘···/˘ |
| Horseman and horse they knew. | 6 | /˘···· |
| The turn of the tide began, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| The rally of bugles ran, | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| He swung his hat in the van; | 7 | ······· |
| The electric hoof-spark flew. | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Wreathe the steed and lead him-- | 6 | ······ |
| For the charge he led | 5 | ····· |
| Touched and turned the cypress | 8 | ·˘··˘·/˘ |
| Into amaranths for the head | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Of Philip, king of riders, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Who raised them from the dead. | 7 | ··˘···· |
| The camp (at dawning lost), | 6 | ···/˘· |
| By eve, recovered--forced, | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·˘ |
| Rang with laughter of the host | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| At belated Early fled. | 7 | ·˘/˘/˘· |
| Shroud the horse in sable-- | 6 | ····/˘ |
| For the mounds they heap! | 5 | ····· |
| There is firing in the Valley, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| And yet no strife they keep; | 6 | ······ |
| It is the parting volley, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| It is the pathos deep. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| There is glory for the brave | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Who lead, and noblys ave, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| But no knowledge in the grave | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Where the nameless followers sleep. | 8 | ··/˘/˘˘· |
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