The Schoolfellow
Our game was his but yesteryear;We wished him back; we could not knowThe selfsame hour we missed him hereHe led the line that broke the foe.
Blood-red behind our guarded postsSank as of old the dying day;The battle ceased; the mingled hostsWeary and cheery went their way:
"To-morrow well may bring," we said,"As fair a fight, as clear a sun."Dear lad, before the word was sped,For evermore thy goal was won.
Words in this poem
- yesteryear n.
- The year last past; last year.
- selfsame a.
- Precisely the same; the very same; identical. [Self, a. + same.]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Schoolfellow 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, The Schoolfellow, in Poems: New and Old (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #24405, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/newbolt-poems/the-schoolfellow.html, id L11419.
Form and metre
The Schoolfellow is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.6 syllables. 33% 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 ABAB yesteryearA · knowB · hereA · foeB
- 2 ABAB postsA · dayB · hostsA · wayB
- 3 ABAB saidA · sunB · spedA · wonB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Our game was his but yesteryear; | 9 | /˘····/˘· |
| We wished him back; we could not know | 9 | ··˘······ |
| The selfsame hour we missed him here | 10 | ·/˘/˘··˘·· |
| He led the line that broke the foe. | 8 | ········ |
| Blood-red behind our guarded posts | 9 | ····/˘/˘· |
| Sank as of old the dying day; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The battle ceased; the mingled hosts | 10 | ·/˘·˘·/˘˘· |
| Weary and cheery went their way: | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| "To-morrow well may bring," we said, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "As fair a fight, as clear a sun." | 8 | ········ |
| Dear lad, before the word was sped, | 8 | ········ |
| For evermore thy goal was won. | 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.