Written After the Second Battle of Bull Run
AH, many-voiced and angry! how the wavesBeat turbulent with terrible uproar!Is there no rest from tossing,--no repose?Where shall we find a haven and a shore?
What is secure from the loud-dashing wave?There go our riches, and our hopes fly there;There go the faces of our best beloved,Whelmed in the vortex of its wild despair.
Whose son is safe? whose brother, and whose home?The dashing spray beats out the household fire;By blackened ashes weep our widowed soulsOver the embers of our lost desire.
By pauses, in the fitful moaning storm,We hear triumphant notes of battle roll.Too soon the triumph sinks in funeral wail;The muffled drum, the death march, shakes the soul!
Rocks on all sides, and breakers! at the helmWeak human hand and weary human eyes.The shout and clamor of our dreary strifeGoes up conflicting to the angry skies.
But for all this, O timid hearts, be strong;Be of good cheer, for, though the storm must be,It hath its Master: from the depths shall riseNew heavens, new earth, where shall be no more sea.
No sea, no tossing, no unrestful storm!Forever past the anguish and the strife;The poor old weary earth shall bloom again,With the bright foliage of that better life.
And war, and strife, and hatred, shall be past,And misery be a forgotten dream.The Shepherd God shall lead his peaceful foldBy the calm meadows and the quiet stream.
Be still, be still, and know that he is God;Be calm, be trustful; work, and watch, and pray,Till from the throes of this last anguish riseThe light and gladness of that better day.
Words in this poem
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- 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,]
- fitful a.
- Full of fits; irregularly variable; impulsive and unstable. [From 7th Fit.]
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- trustful a.
- Full of trust; trusting.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Written After the Second Battle of Bull Run is in the public domain. This text is taken from Religious Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #44778; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Harriet Beecher Stowe, Written After the Second Battle of Bull Run, in Religious Poems (1867), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #44778, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/stowe-religious-poems/written-after-the-second-battle-of-bull-run.html, id L22716.
Form and metre
Written After the Second Battle of Bull Run is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 -A-A waves · uproarA · repose · shoreA
- 2 -A-A wave · thereA · beloved · despairA
- 3 -A-A home · fireA · souls · desireA
- 4 -A-A storm · rollA · wail · soulA
- 5 -A-A helm · eyesA · strife · skiesA
- 6 -A-A strong · beA · rise · seaA
- 7 -A-A storm · strifeA · again · lifeA
- 8 -A-A past · dreamA · fold · streamA
- 9 -A-A god · prayA · rise · dayA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AH, many-voiced and angry! how the waves | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Beat turbulent with terrible uproar! | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘˘/· |
| Is there no rest from tossing,--no repose? | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Where shall we find a haven and a shore? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| What is secure from the loud-dashing wave? | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| There go our riches, and our hopes fly there; | 10 | ··//˘·/··· |
| There go the faces of our best beloved, | 10 | ···/˘·/·˘/ |
| Whelmed in the vortex of its wild despair. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Whose son is safe? whose brother, and whose home? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The dashing spray beats out the household fire; | 11 | ·/˘····/·/˘ |
| By blackened ashes weep our widowed souls | 10 | ·/˘/˘·//˘· |
| Over the embers of our lost desire. | 11 | ··/˘·/˘·˘/˘ |
| By pauses, in the fitful moaning storm, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| We hear triumphant notes of battle roll. | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Too soon the triumph sinks in funeral wail; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The muffled drum, the death march, shakes the soul! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Rocks on all sides, and breakers! at the helm | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Weak human hand and weary human eyes. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| The shout and clamor of our dreary strife | 10 | ···/˘·//˘· |
| Goes up conflicting to the angry skies. | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| But for all this, O timid hearts, be strong; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Be of good cheer, for, though the storm must be, | 10 | ·········· |
| It hath its Master: from the depths shall rise | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| New heavens, new earth, where shall be no more sea. | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| No sea, no tossing, no unrestful storm! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Forever past the anguish and the strife; | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| The poor old weary earth shall bloom again, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| With the bright foliage of that better life. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And war, and strife, and hatred, shall be past, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And misery be a forgotten dream. | 10 | ·/˘˘··˘/˘· |
| The Shepherd God shall lead his peaceful fold | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| By the calm meadows and the quiet stream. | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Be still, be still, and know that he is God; | 10 | ·········· |
| Be calm, be trustful; work, and watch, and pray, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Till from the throes of this last anguish rise | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The light and gladness of that better day. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
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