An Ode, Written October, 1819
Arise, arise, arise!There is blood on the earth that denies ye bread;Be your wounds like eyesTo weep for the dead, the dead, the dead.What other grief were it just to pay?Your sons, your wives, your brethren, were they;Who said they were slain on the battle day?
Awaken, awaken, awaken!The slave and the tyrant are twin-born foes;Be the cold chains shakenTo the dust where your kindred repose, repose:Their bones in the grave will start and move,When they hear the voices of those they love,Most loud in the holy combat above.
Wave, wave high the banner!When Freedom is riding to conquest by:Though the slaves that fan herBe Famine and Toil, giving sigh for sigh.And ye who attend her imperial car,Lift not your hands in the banded war,But in her defence whose children ye are.
Glory, glory, glory,To those who have greatly suffered and done!Never name in storyWas greater than that which ye shall have won.Conquerors have conquered their foes alone,Whose revenge, pride, and power they have overthrownRide ye, more victorious, over your own.
Bind, bind every browWith crownals of violet, ivy, and pine:Hide the blood-stains nowWith hues which sweet Nature has made divine:Green strength, azure hope, and eternity:But let not the pansy among them be;Ye were injured, and that means memory.
Words in this poem
- famine n.
- General scarcity of food; dearth; a want of provisions; destitution. [F. famine, fr. L. fames hunger; cf. Gr. hani loss, lack, ha to leave.]
- defence n.
- The act of defending, or the state of being defended; protection, as from violence or danger. [F. défense, OF. defense, fem., defens, masc., fr. L. defensa (cf. Fence.]
- 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
An Ode, Written October, 1819 is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley — Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #4798; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Percy Bysshe Shelley, An Ode, Written October, 1819, in Ode to the West Wind, and Other Poems (1816–1819), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4798, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shelley-later-poems/an-ode-written-october-1819.html, id L25648.
Form and metre
An Ode, Written October, 1819 is 35 lines in 5 stanzas of 7 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCCC, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 73%).
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 ABABCCC ariseA · breadB · eyesA · deadB · payC · theyC · dayC
- 2 ABABCCC awakenA · foesB · shakenA · reposeB · moveC · loveC · aboveC
- 3 -ABAB-B banner · byA · herB · sighA · carB · war · areB
- 4 ABABCCC gloryA · doneB · storyA · wonB · aloneC · overthrownC · ownC
- 5 ABAB--- browA · pineB · nowA · divineB · eternity · be · memory
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Arise, arise, arise! | 6 | ˘/˘/˘/ |
| There is blood on the earth that denies ye bread; | 11 | ·······˘/·· |
| Be your wounds like eyes | 5 | ····· |
| To weep for the dead, the dead, the dead. | 9 | ········· |
| What other grief were it just to pay? | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Your sons, your wives, your brethren, were they; | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Who said they were slain on the battle day? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Awaken, awaken, awaken! | 9 | ˘/˘˘/˘˘/˘ |
| The slave and the tyrant are twin-born foes; | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Be the cold chains shaken | 6 | ····/˘ |
| To the dust where your kindred repose, repose: | 11 | ·····/˘˘/˘/ |
| Their bones in the grave will start and move, | 9 | ········· |
| When they hear the voices of those they love, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Most loud in the holy combat above. | 10 | ····/˘/˘·· |
| Wave, wave high the banner! | 6 | ····/˘ |
| When Freedom is riding to conquest by: | 10 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘· |
| Though the slaves that fan her | 6 | ······ |
| Be Famine and Toil, giving sigh for sigh. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And ye who attend her imperial car, | 10 | ···˘/·˘/˘· |
| Lift not your hands in the banded war, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| But in her defence whose children ye are. | 10 | ···˘/·/˘·· |
| Glory, glory, glory, | 6 | /˘/˘/˘ |
| To those who have greatly suffered and done! | 10 | ····/˘/˘·· |
| Never name in story | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Was greater than that which ye shall have won. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Conquerors have conquered their foes alone, | 10 | /˘˘·/˘··˘/ |
| Whose revenge, pride, and power they have overthrown | 11 | ·˘/··/···˘/ |
| Ride ye, more victorious, over your own. | 10 | ···˘/˘˘··· |
| Bind, bind every brow | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| With crownals of violet, ivy, and pine: | 10 | ····/˘/˘·· |
| Hide the blood-stains now | 5 | ····· |
| With hues which sweet Nature has made divine: | 10 | ····/˘··˘/ |
| Green strength, azure hope, and eternity: | 10 | ··/˘··˘/˘˘ |
| But let not the pansy among them be; | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Ye were injured, and that means memory. | 10 | ··/˘···/˘˘ |
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.