Florian's Song
My soul, it shall not take us,O we will escapeThis world that strives to break usAnd cast us to its shape;Its chisel shall not enter,Its fire shall not touch,Hard from rim to centre,We will not crack or smutch.
'Gainst words sweet and floweredWe have an amulet,We will not play the cowardFor any black threat;If we but give enduranceTo what is now within--The single assuranceThat it is good to win.
Slaves think it betterTo be weak than strong,Whose hate is a fetterAnd their love a thong.But we will view those othersWith eyes like stone,And if we have no brothersWe will walk alone.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- centre v. i.
- To be placed in a center; to be central.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Florian's Song is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems - First Series, Project Gutenberg ebook #37860; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Collings Squire, Florian's Song, in Poems: First Series (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37860, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/squire-poems/florian-s-song.html, id L23156.
Form and metre
Florian's Song is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 usA · escapeB · usA · shapeB · enterC · touchD · centreC · smutchD
- 2 ABAB-C-C floweredA · amuletB · cowardA · threatB · endurance · withinC · assurance · winC
- 3 ABABCDCD betterA · strongB · fetterA · thongB · othersC · stoneD · brothersC · aloneD
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| My soul, it shall not take us, | 7 | ······· |
| O we will escape | 5 | ···˘/ |
| This world that strives to break us | 7 | ······· |
| And cast us to its shape; | 6 | ······ |
| Its chisel shall not enter, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Its fire shall not touch, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Hard from rim to centre, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| We will not crack or smutch. | 6 | ······ |
| 'Gainst words sweet and flowered | 6 | ····/˘ |
| We have an amulet, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| We will not play the coward | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| For any black threat; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| If we but give endurance | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| To what is now within-- | 6 | ······ |
| The single assurance | 6 | ·/˘˘/˘ |
| That it is good to win. | 6 | ······ |
| Slaves think it better | 5 | ···/˘ |
| To be weak than strong, | 5 | ····· |
| Whose hate is a fetter | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And their love a thong. | 5 | ····· |
| But we will view those others | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| With eyes like stone, | 4 | ···· |
| And if we have no brothers | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| We will walk alone. | 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.