The Three Hills
There were three hills that stood aloneWith woods about their feet.They dreamed quiet when the sun shoneAnd whispered when the rain beat.
They wore all three their coronalsTill men with houses cameAnd scored their heads with pits and wallsAnd thought the hills were tame.
Red and white when day shines brightThey hide the green for miles,Where are the old hills gone? At nightThe moon looks down and smiles.
She sees the captors small and weak,She knows the prisoners strong,She hears the patient hills that speak:"Brothers, it is not long;
"Brothers, we stood when they were notTen thousand summers past.Brothers, when they are clean forgotWe shall outlive the last;
"One shall die and one shall fleeWith terror in his train,And earth shall eat the stones, and weShall be alone again."
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,]
- outlive v. t.
- To live beyond, or longer than; to survive.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Three Hills 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, The Three Hills, in Poems: First Series (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37860, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/squire-poems/the-three-hills.html, id L23153.
Form and metre
The Three Hills is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other poems in common measure.
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 ABAB aloneA · feetB · shoneA · beatB
- 2 ABAB coronalsA · cameB · wallsA · tameB
- 3 ABAB brightA · milesB · nightA · smilesB
- 4 ABAB weakA · strongB · speakA · longB
- 5 ABAB notA · pastB · forgotA · lastB
- 6 ABAB fleeA · trainB · weA · againB
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| There were three hills that stood alone | 8 | ······˘/ |
| With woods about their feet. | 6 | ······ |
| They dreamed quiet when the sun shone | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| And whispered when the rain beat. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| They wore all three their coronals | 8 | ········ |
| Till men with houses came | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And scored their heads with pits and walls | 8 | ········ |
| And thought the hills were tame. | 6 | ······ |
| Red and white when day shines bright | 7 | ······· |
| They hide the green for miles, | 6 | ······ |
| Where are the old hills gone? At night | 8 | ········ |
| The moon looks down and smiles. | 6 | ······ |
| She sees the captors small and weak, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| She knows the prisoners strong, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| She hears the patient hills that speak: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "Brothers, it is not long; | 6 | /˘···· |
| "Brothers, we stood when they were not | 8 | /˘······ |
| Ten thousand summers past. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Brothers, when they are clean forgot | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| We shall outlive the last; | 6 | ···/·· |
| "One shall die and one shall flee | 7 | ······· |
| With terror in his train, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And earth shall eat the stones, and we | 8 | ········ |
| Shall be alone again." | 6 | ··˘/˘/ |
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.