The Empire Builders
Who are the Empire-builders? TheyWhose desperate arrogance demandsA self-reflecting power to swayA hundred little selfless lands?Lord God of battles, ere we bowTo these and to their soulless lust,Let fall Thy thunders on us nowAnd strike us equal to the dust.
Before the stars in heaven were madeOur great Commander led us forth;And now the embattled lines are laidTo East, to West, to South, to North;According as of old He plannedWe take our station in the field,Nor dare to dream we understandThe splendour of the swords we wield.
We know not what the Soul intendsThat lives and moves behind our deeds;We wheel and march to glorious endsBeyond the common soldier's needs:And some are raised to high rewards,And some by regiments are hurledTo die upon the opposing swordsAnd sleep--forgotten by the world.
And not where navies churn the foam,Nor called to fields of fierce emprize,In many a country cottage-homeThe Empire-builder lives and dies:Or through the roaring streets he goesA lean and weary City slave,The conqueror of a thousand foesWho walks, unheeded, to his grave.
Leaders unknown of hopes forlornGo past us in the daily mart,With many a shadowy crown of thornAnd many a kingly broken heart:Though England's banner overheadEver the secret signal flew,We only see its Cross is redAs children see the skies are blue.
For all are Empire-builders here,Whose hearts are true to heaven and homeAnd, year by slow revolving year,Fulfil the duties as they come;So simple seems the task, and yetMany for this are crucified;Ay, and their brother-men forgetThe simple wounds in palm and side.
But he that to his home is true,Where'er the tides of power may flow,Has built a kingdom great and newWhich Time nor Fate shall overthrowThese are the Empire-builders, theseAnnex where none shall say them nayBeyond the world's uncharted seasRealms that can never pass away.
Words in this poem
- desperate a.
- Without hope; given to despair; hopeless. [L. desperatus, p. p. of desperare. See Despair, and cf. Desperado.]
- selfless a.
- Having no regard to self; unselfish.
- soulless a.
- Being without a soul, or without greatness or nobleness of mind; mean; spiritless.
- lust v. i.
- To list; to like. [AS. lystan. See Lust, n., and cf. List to choose.]
- embattled a.
- Having indentations like a battlement.
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- wield v. t.
- To govern; to rule; to keep, or have in charge; also, to possess. [OE. welden to govern, to have power over, to possess, AS. geweldan, gewyldan, from wealdan; akin to OS. waldan, OFries. walda, G. walten, OHG. waltan, Icel. val]
- 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.]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- churn n.
- A vessel in which milk or cream is stirred, beaten, or otherwise agitated (as by a plunging or revolving dasher) in order to separete the oily globules from the other parts, and obtain butter. [OE. chirne, cherne, AS. ceren, cyrin; akin to D. karn, Dan. kierne. See Churn, v. t.]
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- mart v. t.
- To buy or sell in, or as in, a mart.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Empire Builders is in the public domain. This text is taken from Collected Poems: Volume One, Project Gutenberg ebook #30501; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Alfred Noyes, The Empire Builders, in Collected Poems, Volume One (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #30501, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/noyes-collected/the-empire-builders.html, id L21459.
Form and metre
The Empire Builders is 56 lines in 7 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 ABABCDCD theyA · demandsB · swayA · landsB · bowC · lustD · nowC · dustD
- 2 ABABCDCD madeA · forthB · laidA · northB · plannedC · fieldD · understandC · wieldD
- 3 ABABCDCD intendsA · deedsB · endsA · needsB · rewardsC · hurledD · swordsC · worldD
- 4 ABABCDCD foamA · emprizeB · homeA · diesB · goesC · slaveD · foesC · graveD
- 5 ABABCDCD forlornA · martB · thornA · heartB · overheadC · flewD · redC · blueD
- 6 ABABCDCD hereA · homeB · yearA · comeB · yetC · crucifiedD · forgetC · sideD
- 7 ABABCDCD trueA · flowB · newA · overthrowB · theseC · nayD · seasC · awayD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Who are the Empire-builders? They | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Whose desperate arrogance demands | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| A self-reflecting power to sway | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| A hundred little selfless lands? | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Lord God of battles, ere we bow | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To these and to their soulless lust, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Let fall Thy thunders on us now | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And strike us equal to the dust. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Before the stars in heaven were made | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Our great Commander led us forth; | 8 | /·˘/˘··· |
| And now the embattled lines are laid | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
| To East, to West, to South, to North; | 8 | ········ |
| According as of old He planned | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| We take our station in the field, | 8 | ··//˘··· |
| Nor dare to dream we understand | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The splendour of the swords we wield. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| We know not what the Soul intends | 8 | ······˘/ |
| That lives and moves behind our deeds; | 8 | ······/· |
| We wheel and march to glorious ends | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Beyond the common soldier's needs: | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And some are raised to high rewards, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And some by regiments are hurled | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| To die upon the opposing swords | 9 | ·····˘/˘· |
| And sleep--forgotten by the world. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And not where navies churn the foam, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Nor called to fields of fierce emprize, | 8 | ········ |
| In many a country cottage-home | 8 | ·/·/˘/˘· |
| The Empire-builder lives and dies: | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Or through the roaring streets he goes | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A lean and weary City slave, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The conqueror of a thousand foes | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Who walks, unheeded, to his grave. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Leaders unknown of hopes forlorn | 8 | /˘˘/··˘/ |
| Go past us in the daily mart, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With many a shadowy crown of thorn | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| And many a kingly broken heart: | 8 | ·/·/˘/˘· |
| Though England's banner overhead | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘/ |
| Ever the secret signal flew, | 8 | /˘·/˘/˘· |
| We only see its Cross is red | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| As children see the skies are blue. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For all are Empire-builders here, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Whose hearts are true to heaven and home | 8 | ·····/·· |
| And, year by slow revolving year, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Fulfil the duties as they come; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| So simple seems the task, and yet | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Many for this are crucified; | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Ay, and their brother-men forget | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The simple wounds in palm and side. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But he that to his home is true, | 8 | ········ |
| Where'er the tides of power may flow, | 9 | ˘˘/···/·· |
| Has built a kingdom great and new | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Which Time nor Fate shall overthrow | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| These are the Empire-builders, these | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Annex where none shall say them nay | 8 | /······· |
| Beyond the world's uncharted seas | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Realms that can never pass away. | 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.