The Conflict of Convictions
On starry heightsA bugle wails the long recall;Derision stirs the deep abyss,Heaven’s ominous silence over all.Return, return, O eager Hope,And face man’s latter fall.Events, they make the dreamers quail;Satan’s old age is strong and hale,A disciplined captain, gray in skill,And Raphael a white enthusiast still;Dashed aims, at which Christ’s martyrs pale,Shall Mammon’s slaves fulfill?
(Dismantle the fort,Cut down the fleet--Battle no more shall be!While the fields for fight in æons to comeCongeal beneath the sea.)
The terrors of truth and dart of deathTo faith alike are vain;Though comets, gone a thousand years,Return again,Patient she stands--she can no more--And waits, nor heeds she waxes hoar.
(At a stony gate,A statue of stone,Weed overgrown--Long ’twill wait!)
But God his former mind retains,Confirms his old decree;The generations are inured to pains,And strong NecessitySurges, and heaps Time’s strand with wrecks.The People spread like a weedy grass,The thing they will they bring to pass,And prosper to the apoplex.The rout it herds around the heart,The ghost is yielded in the gloom;Kings wag their heads--Now save thyselfWho wouldst rebuild the world in bloom.
(Tide-markAnd top of the ages’ strike,Verge where they called the world to come,The last advance of life--Ha ha, the rust on the Iron Dome!)
Nay, but revere the hid event;In the cloud a sword is girded on,I mark a twinkling in the tentOf Michael the warrior one.Senior wisdom suits not now,The light is on the youthful brow.
(Ay, in caves the miner see:His forehead bears a blinking light;Darkness so he feebly braves--A meagre wight!)
But He who rules is old--is old;Ah! faith is warm, but heaven with age is cold.
(Ho ho, ho ho,The cloistered doubtOf olden timesIs blurted out!)
The Ancient of Days forever is young,Forever the scheme of Nature thrives;I know a wind in purpose strong--It spins against the way it drives.What if the gulfs their slimed foundations bare?So deep must the stones be hurledWhereon the throes of ages rearThe final empire and the happier world.
(The poor old Past,The Future’s slave,She drudged through pain and crimeTo bring about the blissful Prime,Then--perished. There’s a grave!)
Power unanointed may come--Dominion (unsought by the free)And the Iron Dome,Stronger for stress and strain,Fling her huge shadow athwart the main;But the Founders’ dream shall flee.Agee after age shall beAs age after age has been,(From man’s changeless heart their way they win);
And death be busy with all who strive--Death, with silent negative.
Words in this poem 20
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- 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,]
- fulfill v. t.
- To fill up; to make full or complete. [OE. fulfillen, fulfullen, AS. fulfyllan; ful full + fyllan to fill. See Full, a., and Fill, v. t.]
- dismantle v. t.
- To strip or deprive of dress; to divest. [F. démanteler, OF. desmanteler; pref: des- (L. dis-) + manteler to cover with a cloak, defend, fr. mantel, F. manteau, cloak. See Mantle.]
- hoar v. t.
- To become moldy or musty. [AS. harian to grow gray.]
- 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.]
- weedy a.
- Of or pertaining to weeds; consisting of weeds.
- prosper v. t.
- To favor; to render successful. [F. prospérer v. i., or L. prosperare, v. i., or L. prosperare, v. t., fr. prosper or prosperus. See Prosperous.]
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- rebuild v. t.
- To build again, as something which has been demolished; to construct anew; as, to rebuild a house, a wall, a wharf, or a city.
- revere v. t.
- To regard with reverence, or profound respect and affection, mingled with awe or fear; to venerate; to reverence; to honor in estimation. [L. revereri; pref. re- re- + vereri to fear, perh. akin to E. wary: cf. F. révérer.]
- twinkling n.
- The act of one who, or of that which, twinkles; a quick movement of the eye; a wink; a twinkle. Holland.
- miner n.
- One who mines; a digger for metals, etc.; one engaged in the business of getting ore, coal, or precious stones, out of the earth; one who digs military mines; as, armies have sappers and miners. [Cf. F. mineur.]
- meagre a.
- Destitue of, or having little, flesh; lean. [OE. merge, F. maigre, L. macer; akin to D. & G. mager, Icel. magr, and prob. to Gr. Emaciate, Maigre.]
- wight n.
- A whit; a bit; a jot. [OE. wight, wiht, a wight, a whit, AS. wiht, wuht, a creature, a thing; skin to D. wicht a child, OS. & OHG. wiht a creature, thing, G. wicht a creature, Icel. v]
- cloistered a.
- Dwelling in cloisters; solitary.
- olden a.
- Old; ancient; as, the olden time.
- whereon adv.
- On which; -- used relatively; as, the earth whereon we live.
- blissful a.
- Full of, characterized by, or causing, joy and felicity; happy in the highest degree.
- changeless a.
- That can not be changed; constant; as, a changeless purpose.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Conflict of Convictions 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, The Conflict of Convictions, in Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War (1866), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12384, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/melville-battle-pieces/the-conflict-of-convictions.html, id L19087.
Form and metre
The Conflict of Convictions is 84 lines in 14 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
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-ABBCCBC heights · recallA · abyss · allA · hope · fallA · quailB · haleB · skillC · stillC · paleB · fulfillC
- 2 --A-A fort · fleet · beA · come · seaA
- 3 -A-ABB death · vainA · years · againA · moreB · hoarB
- 4 ABBA gateA · stoneB · overgrownB · waitA
- 5 A-A-BCCB-D-D retainsA · decree · painsA · necessity · wrecksB · grassC · passC · apoplexB · heart · gloomD · thyself · bloomD
- 6 --A-A mark · strike · comeA · life · domeA
- 7 A-A-BB eventA · on · tentA · one · nowB · browB
- 8 -A-A see · lightA · braves · wightA
- 9 AA oldA · coldA
- 10 -A-A ho · doubtA · times · outA
- 11 -A-ABCBC young · thrivesA · strong · drivesA · bareB · hurledC · rearB · worldC
- 12 -ABBA past · slaveA · crimeB · primeB · graveA
- 13 ABACCBBDD comeA · freeB · domeA · strainC · mainC · fleeB · beB · beenD · winD
- 14 AA striveA · negativeA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| On starry heights | 4 | ·/˘· |
| A bugle wails the long recall; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Derision stirs the deep abyss, | 8 | ˘/˘···˘/ |
| Heaven’s ominous silence over all. | 8 | /˘/˘/˘·· |
| Return, return, O eager Hope, | 8 | ˘/˘/·/˘· |
| And face man’s latter fall. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Events, they make the dreamers quail; | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Satan’s old age is strong and hale, | 8 | /˘······ |
| A disciplined captain, gray in skill, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And Raphael a white enthusiast still; | 11 | ··˘/··˘/˘·· |
| Dashed aims, at which Christ’s martyrs pale, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Shall Mammon’s slaves fulfill? | 6 | ····˘/ |
| (Dismantle the fort, | 5 | ˘/˘·· |
| Cut down the fleet-- | 4 | ···· |
| Battle no more shall be! | 6 | /˘···· |
| While the fields for fight in æons to come | 9 | ········· |
| Congeal beneath the sea.) | 6 | ˘/···· |
| The terrors of truth and dart of death | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| To faith alike are vain; | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Though comets, gone a thousand years, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Return again, | 4 | ˘/˘/ |
| Patient she stands--she can no more-- | 8 | /˘······ |
| And waits, nor heeds she waxes hoar. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| (At a stony gate, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| A statue of stone, | 5 | ·/··· |
| Weed overgrown-- | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Long ’twill wait!) | 3 | ··· |
| But God his former mind retains, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Confirms his old decree; | 6 | ˘/··˘/ |
| The generations are inured to pains, | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/·· |
| And strong Necessity | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| Surges, and heaps Time’s strand with wrecks. | 8 | /˘······ |
| The People spread like a weedy grass, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| The thing they will they bring to pass, | 8 | ········ |
| And prosper to the apoplex. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| The rout it herds around the heart, | 8 | ········ |
| The ghost is yielded in the gloom; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Kings wag their heads--Now save thyself | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Who wouldst rebuild the world in bloom. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| (Tide-mark | 2 | ·· |
| And top of the ages’ strike, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Verge where they called the world to come, | 8 | ········ |
| The last advance of life-- | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Ha ha, the rust on the Iron Dome!) | 8 | ······/· |
| Nay, but revere the hid event; | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| In the cloud a sword is girded on, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| I mark a twinkling in the tent | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of Michael the warrior one. | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘· |
| Senior wisdom suits not now, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| The light is on the youthful brow. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| (Ay, in caves the miner see: | 7 | ····/˘· |
| His forehead bears a blinking light; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Darkness so he feebly braves-- | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| A meagre wight!) | 4 | ·/˘· |
| But He who rules is old--is old; | 8 | ········ |
| Ah! faith is warm, but heaven with age is cold. | 10 | ·····/···· |
| (Ho ho, ho ho, | 4 | ···· |
| The cloistered doubt | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Of olden times | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Is blurted out!) | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The Ancient of Days forever is young, | 10 | ·/˘··˘/˘·· |
| Forever the scheme of Nature thrives; | 9 | ˘/˘···/˘· |
| I know a wind in purpose strong-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| It spins against the way it drives. | 8 | ········ |
| What if the gulfs their slimed foundations bare? | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| So deep must the stones be hurled | 8 | ·······˘ |
| Whereon the throes of ages rear | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| The final empire and the happier world. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| (The poor old Past, | 4 | ···· |
| The Future’s slave, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| She drudged through pain and crime | 7 | ··˘···· |
| To bring about the blissful Prime, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Then--perished. There’s a grave!) | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Power unanointed may come-- | 8 | /˘······ |
| Dominion (unsought by the free) | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| And the Iron Dome, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Stronger for stress and strain, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Fling her huge shadow athwart the main; | 9 | ···/·˘/·· |
| But the Founders’ dream shall flee. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Agee after age shall be | 7 | //····· |
| As age after age has been, | 7 | ······· |
| (From man’s changeless heart their way they win); | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| And death be busy with all who strive-- | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Death, with silent negative. | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
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.