Banishment
I am banished from the patient men who fight.They smote my heart to pity, built my pride.Shoulder to aching shoulder, side by side,They trudged away from life's broad wealds of light.Their wrongs were mine; and ever in my sightThey went arrayed in honour. But they died,--Not one by one: and mutinous I criedTo those who sent them out into the night.
The darkness tells how vainly I have strivenTo free them from the pit where they must dwellIn outcast gloom convulsed and jagged and rivenBy grappling guns. Love drove me to rebel.Love drives me back to grope with them through hell;And in their tortured eyes I stand forgiven.
Words in this poem
- aching a.
- That aches; continuously painful. See Ache.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- mutinous a.
- Disposed to mutiny; in a state of mutiny; characterized by mutiny; seditious; insubordinate. [See Mutiny.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- outcast a.
- Cast out; degraded. [Cf. Sw. utkasta to cast out.]
- drove n.
- A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
- rebel a.
- Pertaining to rebels or rebellion; acting in revolt; rebellious; as, rebel troops. [F. rebelle, fr. L. rebellis. See Rebel, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Banishment is in the public domain. This text is taken from Counter-Attack and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #8930; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Siegfried Sassoon, Banishment, in Counter-Attack and Other Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8930, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sassoon-counter-attack/banishment.html, id L04712.
Form and metre
Banishment is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABBAABBA fightA · prideB · sideB · lightA · sightA · diedB · criedB · nightA
- 2 ABABBA strivenA · dwellB · rivenA · rebelB · hellB · forgivenA
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I am banished from the patient men who fight. | 11 | ··/˘··/˘··· |
| They smote my heart to pity, built my pride. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Shoulder to aching shoulder, side by side, | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| They trudged away from life's broad wealds of light. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Their wrongs were mine; and ever in my sight | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| They went arrayed in honour. But they died,-- | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Not one by one: and mutinous I cried | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| To those who sent them out into the night. | 10 | ·········· |
| The darkness tells how vainly I have striven | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| To free them from the pit where they must dwell | 10 | ·········· |
| In outcast gloom convulsed and jagged and riven | 11 | ·/·······/˘ |
| By grappling guns. Love drove me to rebel. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Love drives me back to grope with them through hell; | 10 | ·········· |
| And in their tortured eyes I stand forgiven. | 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.