Commemoration
I sat by the granite pillar, and sunlight fellWhere the sunlight fell of old,And the hour was the hour my heart remembered well,And the sermon rolled and rolledAs it used to roll when the place was still unhaunted,And the strangest tale in the world was still untold.
And I knew that of all this rushing of urgent soundThat I so clearly heard,The green young forest of saplings clustered roundWas heeding not one word:Their heads were bowed in a still serried patienceSuch as an angel's breath could never have stirred.
For some were already away to the hazardous pitch,Or lining the parapet wall,And some were in glorious battle, or great and rich,Or throned in a college hall:And among the rest was one like my own young phantom,Dreaming for ever beyond my utmost call.
"O Youth," the preacher was crying, "deem not thouThy life is thine alone;Thou bearest the will of the ages, seeing howThey built thee bone by bone,And within thy blood the Great Age sleeps sepulchredTill thou and thine shall roll away the stone.
"Therefore the days are coming when thou shalt burnWith passion whitely hot;Rest shall be rest no more; thy feet shall spurnAll that thy hand hath got;And One that is stronger shall gird thee, and lead thee swiftlyWhither, O heart of Youth, thou wouldest not."
And the School passed; and I saw the living and deadSet in their seats again,And I longed to hear them speak of the word that was said,But I knew that I longed in vain.And they stretched forth their hands, and the wind of thespirit took themLightly as drifted leaves on an endless plain.
Words in this poem
- sermon n.
- A discourse or address; a talk; a writing; as, the sermens of Chaucer. [OE. sermoun, sermun, F. sermon, fr. L. sermo, - onis, a speaking, discourse, probably fr. serer, sertum, to join, connect; hence, a connected speech. See Series]
- untold a.
- Not told; not related; not revealed; as, untold secrets.
- serried a.
- Crowded; compact; dense; pressed together. [See Serry.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
- 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,]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- whitely a.
- Like, or coming near to, white.
- spurn v. t.
- To drive back or away, as with the foot; to kick. [OE. spurnen to kick against, to stumble over, AS. spurnan to kick, offend; akin to spura spur, OS. & OHG. spurnan to kick, Icel. spyrna, L. spernere to despise,]
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Commemoration is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems: New and Old, Project Gutenberg ebook #24405; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry John Newbolt, Commemoration, in Poems: New and Old (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #24405, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/newbolt-poems/commemoration.html, id L11425.
Form and metre
Commemoration is 37 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.8 syllables. 3 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 hexameter.
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-B fellA · oldB · wellA · rolledB · unhaunted · untoldB
- 2 ABAB-B soundA · heardB · roundA · wordB · patience · stirredB
- 3 ABAB-B pitchA · wallB · richA · hallB · phantom · callB
- 4 ABAB-B thouA · aloneB · howA · boneB · sepulchred · stoneB
- 5 ABAB-B burnA · hotB · spurnA · gotB · swiftly · notB
- 6 ABAB--B deadA · againB · saidA · vainB · the · them · plainB
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 hexameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I sat by the granite pillar, and sunlight fell | 12 | ····/˘/˘·/·· |
| Where the sunlight fell of old, | 7 | ··/···· |
| And the hour was the hour my heart remembered well, | 12 | ··/··/··˘/˘· |
| And the sermon rolled and rolled | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| As it used to roll when the place was still unhaunted, | 13 | ············· |
| And the strangest tale in the world was still untold. | 12 | ··/˘······˘/ |
| And I knew that of all this rushing of urgent sound | 13 | ·······/˘·/˘· |
| That I so clearly heard, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The green young forest of saplings clustered round | 11 | ···/˘·/˘/˘· |
| Was heeding not one word: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Their heads were bowed in a still serried patience | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Such as an angel's breath could never have stirred. | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| For some were already away to the hazardous pitch, | 13 | ···˘/˘˘/··/˘· |
| Or lining the parapet wall, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| And some were in glorious battle, or great and rich, | 12 | ····/˘/˘···· |
| Or throned in a college hall: | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And among the rest was one like my own young phantom, | 13 | ···········/˘ |
| Dreaming for ever beyond my utmost call. | 10 | /˘·/···/·· |
| "O Youth," the preacher was crying, "deem not thou | 11 | ···/˘·/˘··· |
| Thy life is thine alone; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Thou bearest the will of the ages, seeing how | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/· |
| They built thee bone by bone, | 6 | ······ |
| And within thy blood the Great Age sleeps sepulchred | 11 | ··········· |
| Till thou and thine shall roll away the stone. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| "Therefore the days are coming when thou shalt burn | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| With passion whitely hot; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Rest shall be rest no more; thy feet shall spurn | 10 | ·········· |
| All that thy hand hath got; | 6 | ······ |
| And One that is stronger shall gird thee, and lead thee swiftly | 14 | ····/˘······/˘ |
| Whither, O heart of Youth, thou wouldest not." | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| And the School passed; and I saw the living and dead | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| Set in their seats again, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And I longed to hear them speak of the word that was said, | 13 | ············· |
| But I knew that I longed in vain. | 9 | ······˘·· |
| And they stretched forth their hands, and the wind of the | 11 | ··········· |
| spirit took them | 4 | /˘·· |
| Lightly as drifted leaves on an endless plain. | 11 | /˘·/˘···/˘· |
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.