English War Song
Who fears to die? Who fears to die?Is there any here who fears to dieHe shall find what he fears, and none shall grieveFor the man who fears to die;But the withering scorn of the many shall cleaveTo the man who fears to die.
Chorus.—Shout for England!Ho! for England!George for England!Merry England!England for aye!
The hollow at heart shall crouch forlorn,He shall eat the bread of common scorn;It shall be steeped in the salt, salt tear,Shall be steeped in his own salt tear:Far better, far better he never were bornThan to shame merry England here.
There standeth our ancient enemy;Hark! he shouteth—the ancient enemy!On the ridge of the hill his banners rise;They stream like fire in the skies;Hold up the Lion of England on highTill it dazzle and blind his eyes.
Come along! we alone of the earth are free;The child in our cradles is bolder than he;For where is the heart and strength of slaves?Oh! where is the strength of slaves?He is weak! we are strong; he a slave, we are free;Come along! we will dig their graves.
There standeth our ancient enemy;Will he dare to battle with the free?Spur along! spur amain! charge to the fight:Charge! charge to the fight!Hold up the Lion of England on high!Shout for God and our right!
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,]
- withering a.
- Tending to wither; causing to shrink or fade.
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- dazzle v. t.
- To overpower with light; to confuse the sight of by brilliance of light. [Freq. of daze.]
- amain adv.
- With might; with full force; vigorously; violently; exceedingly. [Pref. a- + main. See 2d Main, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
English War Song is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Early Poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson, Project Gutenberg ebook #8601; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Alfred Tennyson, English War Song, in The Early Poems (1830–1842), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8601, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tennyson-early-poems/english-war-song.html, id L16599.
Form and metre
English War Song is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 56% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AABABA dieA · dieA · grieveB · dieA · cleaveB · dieA
- 2 -AAAA- chorus · englandA · englandA · englandA · englandA · aye
- 3 AABBAB forlornA · scornA · tearB · tearB · bornA · hereB
- 4 AABB-B enemyA · enemyA · riseB · skiesB · high · eyesB
- 5 AABBAB freeA · heA · slavesB · slavesB · freeA · gravesB
- 6 -ABBAB enemy · freeA · fightB · fightB · highA · rightB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Who fears to die? Who fears to die? | 8 | ········ |
| Is there any here who fears to die | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| He shall find what he fears, and none shall grieve | 10 | ·········· |
| For the man who fears to die; | 7 | ······· |
| But the withering scorn of the many shall cleave | 10 | ··/˘···/·· |
| To the man who fears to die. | 7 | ······· |
| Chorus.— | 2 | /˘ |
| Shout for England! | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Ho! for England! | 4 | ··/˘ |
| George for England! | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Merry England! | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| England for aye! | 4 | /˘·· |
| The hollow at heart shall crouch forlorn, | 9 | ·/˘····˘/ |
| He shall eat the bread of common scorn; | 9 | ······/˘· |
| It shall be steeped in the salt, salt tear, | 9 | ········· |
| Shall be steeped in his own salt tear: | 8 | ········ |
| Far better, far better he never were born | 10 | ·/˘·/˘·/·· |
| Than to shame merry England here. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| There standeth our ancient enemy; | 9 | ·/˘//˘/˘˘ |
| Hark! he shouteth—the ancient enemy! | 9 | ··/˘·/˘/˘ |
| On the ridge of the hill his banners rise; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| They stream like fire in the skies; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Hold up the Lion of England on high | 9 | ···/·/˘·· |
| Till it dazzle and blind his eyes. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Come along! we alone of the earth are free; | 11 | ·˘/·˘/····· |
| The child in our cradles is bolder than he; | 11 | ···//˘·/˘·· |
| For where is the heart and strength of slaves? | 9 | ········· |
| Oh! where is the strength of slaves? | 7 | ······· |
| He is weak! we are strong; he a slave, we are free; | 12 | ············ |
| Come along! we will dig their graves. | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| There standeth our ancient enemy; | 9 | ·/˘//˘/˘˘ |
| Will he dare to battle with the free? | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Spur along! spur amain! charge to the fight: | 10 | ·˘/·˘/···· |
| Charge! charge to the fight! | 5 | ····· |
| Hold up the Lion of England on high! | 9 | ···/·/˘·· |
| Shout for God and our right! | 7 | ····/˘· |
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.