Hohenlinden
On Linden, when the sun was low,All bloodless lay th’ untrodden snow;And dark as winter was the flowOf Iser, rolling rapidly.
But Linden saw another sight,When the drum beat, at dead of night,Commanding fires of death to lightThe darkness of her scenery.
By torch and trumpet fast array’dEach horseman drew his battle-blade,And furious every charger neigh’dTo join the dreadful revelry.
Then shook the hills with thunder riven,Then rush’d the steed to battle driven,And louder than the bolts of Heaven,Far flashed the red artillery.
But redder yet that light shall glowOn Linden’s hills or stainèd snow;And bloodier yet the torrent flowOf Iser, rolling rapidly.
’Tis morn, but scarce yon level sunCan pierce the war-clouds, rolling dun,Where furious Frank, and fiery Hun,Shout in their sulphurous canopy.
The combat deepens. On, ye braveWho rush to glory or the grave!Wave, Munich! all thy banners wave,And charge with all thy chivalry!
Few, few shall part, where many meet!The snow shall be their winding-sheet,And every turf beneath their feetShall be a soldier’s sepulcher.
Words in this poem
- charger n.
- One who, or that which charges.
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- 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.]
- artillery n.
- Munitions of war; implements for warfare, as slings, bows, and arrows. [OE. artilrie, OF. artillerie, arteillerie, fr. LL. artillaria, artilleria, machines and apparatus of all kinds used in war, vans laden with arms of any kind whi]
- 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,]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Hohenlinden is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Every Child Should Know The What-Every-Child-Should-Know-Library, Project Gutenberg ebook #16436; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Mary E. Burt, Hohenlinden, in Poems Every Child Should Know (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16436, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poems-every-child/hohenlinden.html, id L25240.
Form and metre
Hohenlinden is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AAA- lowA · snowA · flowA · rapidly
- 2 AAA- sightA · nightA · lightA · scenery
- 3 AA-- array'dA · bladeA · neigh'd · revelry
- 4 AA-- rivenA · drivenA · heaven · artillery
- 5 AAA- glowA · snowA · flowA · rapidly
- 6 AAA- sunA · dunA · hunA · canopy
- 7 AAA- braveA · graveA · waveA · chivalry
- 8 AAA- meetA · sheetA · feetA · sepulcher
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 Linden, when the sun was low, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| All bloodless lay th’ untrodden snow; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And dark as winter was the flow | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of Iser, rolling rapidly. | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| But Linden saw another sight, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| When the drum beat, at dead of night, | 8 | ········ |
| Commanding fires of death to light | 8 | ˘/˘/···· |
| The darkness of her scenery. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| By torch and trumpet fast array’d | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Each horseman drew his battle-blade, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And furious every charger neigh’d | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| To join the dreadful revelry. | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Then shook the hills with thunder riven, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Then rush’d the steed to battle driven, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| And louder than the bolts of Heaven, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Far flashed the red artillery. | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| But redder yet that light shall glow | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| On Linden’s hills or stainèd snow; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And bloodier yet the torrent flow | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Of Iser, rolling rapidly. | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| ’Tis morn, but scarce yon level sun | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Can pierce the war-clouds, rolling dun, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where furious Frank, and fiery Hun, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Shout in their sulphurous canopy. | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘˘ |
| The combat deepens. On, ye brave | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Who rush to glory or the grave! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Wave, Munich! all thy banners wave, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And charge with all thy chivalry! | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Few, few shall part, where many meet! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The snow shall be their winding-sheet, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And every turf beneath their feet | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Shall be a soldier’s sepulcher. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
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