Warren’s Address to the American Soldiers
There is never a boy who objects to learning “Warren’s Address,” byJohn Pierpont (1785-1866). To stand by one’s own rights is inherent inevery true American. This poem is doubtless developed from RobertBurns’s “Bannockburn.” (1785-1866.)
Stand! the ground’s your own, my braves!Will ye give it up to slaves?Will ye look for greener graves?Hope ye mercy still?What’s the mercy despots feel?Hear it in that battle-peal!Read it on yon bristling steel!Ask it,--ye who will.
Fear ye foes who kill for hire?Will ye to your homes retire?Look behind you! they’re afire!And, before you, seeWho have done it!--From the valeOn they come!--And will ye quail?--Leaden rain and iron hailLet their welcome be!
In the God of battles trust!Die we may,--and die we must;But, O, where can dust to dustBe consigned so well,As where Heaven its dews shall shedOn the martyred patriot’s bed,And the rocks shall raise their head,Of his deeds to tell!
Words in this poem
- doubtless a.
- Free from fear or suspicion.
- peal v. i.
- To appeal. Spencer.
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- 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
Warren’s Address to the American Soldiers 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, Warren’s Address to the American Soldiers, in Poems Every Child Should Know (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16436, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poems-every-child/warren-s-address-to-the-american-soldiers.html, id L25203.
Form and metre
Warren’s Address to the American Soldiers is 28 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AAABCCCB, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See other poems in trochaic 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.
- 2 AAABCCCB bravesA · slavesA · gravesA · stillB · feelC · pealC · steelC · willB
- 3 AAABCCCB hireA · retireA · afireA · seeB · valeC · quailC · hailC · beB
- 4 AAABCCCB trustA · mustA · dustA · wellB · shedC · bedC · headC · tellB
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| There is never a boy who objects to learning “Warren’s Address,” by | 16 | ··/···˘/·/˘/˘/·· |
| John Pierpont (1785-1866). To stand by one’s own rights is inherent in | 14 | ·/········˘/˘· |
| every true American. This poem is doubtless developed from Robert | 17 | /˘·˘/˘·/·/˘˘/˘·/˘ |
| Burns’s “Bannockburn.” (1785-1866.) | 5 | /˘··· |
| Stand! the ground’s your own, my braves! | 7 | ······· |
| Will ye give it up to slaves? | 7 | ······· |
| Will ye look for greener graves? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Hope ye mercy still? | 5 | ··/˘· |
| What’s the mercy despots feel? | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Hear it in that battle-peal! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Read it on yon bristling steel! | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| Ask it,--ye who will. | 5 | ····· |
| Fear ye foes who kill for hire? | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Will ye to your homes retire? | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Look behind you! they’re afire! | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| And, before you, see | 5 | ····· |
| Who have done it!--From the vale | 7 | ······· |
| On they come!--And will ye quail?-- | 7 | ······· |
| Leaden rain and iron hail | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Let their welcome be! | 5 | ··/˘· |
| In the God of battles trust! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Die we may,--and die we must; | 7 | ······· |
| But, O, where can dust to dust | 7 | ······· |
| Be consigned so well, | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| As where Heaven its dews shall shed | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| On the martyred patriot’s bed, | 8 | ··/˘/˘˘· |
| And the rocks shall raise their head, | 7 | ······· |
| Of his deeds to tell! | 5 | ····· |
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.